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Transition: Widodo Trade Minister Tom Lembong Being Fitted Up, Former National Deputy Police Chief

“…engineered..”

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Arrest of Former Widodo Confidant and Indonesian Trade Minister Tom Lembong Has Been Engineered, Former National Deputy Police Chief

YouTube Channel “Abraham Samad SPEAK UP”, Nov 3, 2024

A former deputy chief of police at the Indonesian National Police reveals the engineering behind the case against one of recently-retired President Joko Widodo’s ministers of trade, Tom Lembong. Lembong was President Widodo’s Minister of Trade from 2015 to 2016. Is this a legal or political case? Watch the whole interview at “Abraham Samad ”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV4t3cLVgF0

In earlier news…

After 12 Months of Searching, No Money Trail to Former Trade Minister Tom Lembong Found in Sugar Importation Corruption Investigation, Concedes Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office

By Dinda Shabrina and Febriyan for Tempo.co, October 30, 2024

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office announced that it is still investigating the Rp 400 billion ($US 27 million) in government losses identified in a sprawling sugar importation corruption investigation. AGO Spokesperson Harli Siregar admitted officials have not yet decided whether former Widodo Administration Trade Minister Tom Lembong benefited from financial flows related to the case.

“The issue of government losses is still under review, and we’re examining the financial flows to see where they ultimately run,” Harli claimed on Wednesday at the Attorney General’s Office in South Jakarta.

https://koran.tempo.co/read/hukum/490460/kebijakan-impor-gula-tom-lembong

Earlier, Director of Enforcement at the Deputy Attorney General’s Office for Special Crimes (Jampidsus), Abdul Qohar, speculated that government losses in the case were in the order of Rp 400 billion ($US 27 million). Qohar attributed the losses to profits that Indonesia’s state-owned enterprise (SOE) trading company PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PT PPI) would have been anticipated to achieve through sugar importation—profits instead being booked by eight private agribusiness companies that had obtained quotas for the importation of raw crystal sugar.

Harli confirmed that former Trade Minister Tom Lembong has been named a suspect in the case in his role as a regulator, alongside SOE PT PPI. Investigators he said were actively assessing whether Lembong personally profited from the flows of funds. “Whether or not, for example, there the aspect of the financial flows will definitely be investigated,” Harli added.

The Attorney General’s Office formally named Lembong and PT PPI’s Business Development Director, Charles Sitorus, as suspects in the sugar importation corruption investigation. Both were taken into custody on Tuesday 29 October 2024.

The investigation into the case began in October last year, according to Harli. He said that investigators faced challenges in uncovering the details of the alleged corrupt scheme. Lembong and Sitorus have each been questioned three times during the investigation, which concluded with investigators securing five key pieces of evidence to support their decision to name the two officially as suspects.

As to whether additional suspects would be identified, Harli said that further charges would depend on the emergence of new evidence.

“To name someone as a suspect, we need sufficient preliminary evidence, at least two pieces of evidence. All possibilities are still on the table, but we have to base our decisions on this,” he said.

This article is based on https://metro.tempo.co/read/1935019/kejagung-belum-kantongi-bukti-aliran-dana-ke-tom-lembong-dalam-kasus-impor-gula

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Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office Admits Challenges in Sugar Importation Corruption Probe Leading to Arrest of Tom Lembong and Charles Sitorus

By Dinda Shabrina and Febriyan for Tempo.co, October 30, 2024

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Indonesian AGO acknowledged that it faced significant challenges investigating the sugar importation corruption case it alleged involved former Widodo government Trade Minister Thomas “Tom” Lembong and SEO PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia’s (PT PPI) Business Development Director, Charles Sitorus. According to Harli Siregar, Head of the Attorney General’s Office’s Legal Information Center, the investigation, which began in October 2023, has required extensive time and resources.

“The investigation has indeed been ongoing since October 2023—exactly a year. Each case is distinct, with its own complexities, so it’s not always comparable to other cases,” Harli explained in South Jakarta on October 30, 2024.

Harli noted that investigators encountered difficulties identifying all the parties involved, requiring ongoing analysis and examination of the evidence for over a year. “Our team has continued to scrutinize and deepen our understanding of the evidence collected,” he said.

Investigators have questioned Lembong and Sitorus three times over this period, initially as witnesses. Harli claimed the pair had been named officially as suspects only after investigators gathered substantial evidence of their involvement. “Then, investigators exercised their authority to arrest the two suspects,” he added.

Indonesia’s AGO officially detained Lembong and Sitorus on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, as suspects in a corruption investigation over the importation of sugar. According to Abdul Qohar, Director of Special Crimes Investigations (Jampidsus), Lembong had authorized the importation of 105,000 tons of raw crystal sugar (GKM) by PT AP, intended for processing into refined white crystal sugar (GKP).

Qohar explained that Lembong’s actions contravened Trade and Industry Ministerial Decree No. 527/2004, which restricts raw sugar imports to state-owned enterprises (BUMNs) only. Qohar also alleged that Lembong had issued the import permits without coordinating with other relevant ministries or obtaining a recommendation from the Ministry of Industry related to domestic sugar demand.

On December 28, 2015, the Economic Affairs Coordination Ministry held a meeting attended by various ministries under its jurisdiction, addressing a projected 200,000-ton shortage of refined white sugar for 2016 to stabilize prices and maintain national supply. Subsequently, in January 2016, Lembong issued a directive to PT PPI to help stabilize the sugar market by collaborating with companies holding raw crystal sugar import quotas.

Prior to the making of this directive, Charles Sitorus had allegedly instructed a Senior Manager of PT PPI’s Basic Commodities Division to meet with representatives from eight private sugar companies—PT PDSU or PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama, PT MT or PT Makassar Tene, PT AP or PT Angels Products, PT AF or PT Andalan Furnindo, PT SUJ or PT Sentra Usahatama Jaya, PT MSI or PT Medan Sugar Industry, PT BMM or PT Berkah Manis Makmur, and PT DSI or PT Duta Sugar Internasional—at Jakarta’s Equity Tower. The four meetings are alleged to have addressed plans for PT PPI and these companies to import raw crystal sugar and process it into white sugar crystal.

AGO investigators allege that Lembong’s decisions cost the government revenue in the order of Rp 400 billion ($US 27 million), an amount Qohar claimed stemmed from potential profits that PT PPI, as a state-owned enterprise, should have received. These profits instead flowed to the eight companies with raw crystal sugar import quotas.

This article was based on https://metro.tempo.co/read/1935006/tahan-tom-lembong-dan-charles-sitorus-kejagung-akui-sempat-kesulitan-usut-korupsi-impor-gula

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Arrest of Former Widodo Trade Minister Tom Lembong is Not Political, Claim Investigators from Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office

By Dinda Shabrina and Suseno for Tempo.co, Oct 29, 2024

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Director of Investigation at Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office for Special Crimes, Abdul Qohar, said there was no politicization in the decision to name Thomas Trikasih Lembong a suspect in a criminal investigation. The former Minister of Trade, better known as Tom Lembong, was named a suspect in a corruption case involving the importation of sugar that is suspected of causing government losses of approximately Rp400 billion ($USD27 million).

Abdul said his side had done the work and named Tom Lembong as a suspect in accordance with the relevant procedures. “Investigators work based on procedures. That’s what needs to be underlined,” said Abdul at the Attorney General’s Office, South Jakarta, October 29, 2024.

Abdul also said that when investigators have found complete evidence related to a case, there is no selective process in decisions to name suspects. “Whoever the perpetrator is, when complete evidence is found, investigators will decide that the person concerned as a suspect,” he said.

He explained that the investigation into the case had been going on for a year. Abdul said the investigation began in October 2023 with 90 witnesses having been questioned.

Meanwhile, the new suspects named include two people, Tom Lembong, and CS as the Director of Business Development at the company PT PPI (Indonesian Trading Company). Tom Lembong is suspected of being involved in granting import permits for 105,000 tons of raw crystal sugar.

“Mr. TTL (Tom Lembong) is suspected of giving a permit to import 105,000 tons of raw crystal sugar to PT AP, which was then processed into white crystal sugar,” said Abdul.

In accordance with Decree of the Minister of Trade and Minister of Industry Number 257/2004, Abdul said that only Indonesia’s government owned enterprises  (BUMN) were allowed to import white crystal sugar, but based on the import approval issued by suspect Tom Lembong, the sugar was imported by PT AP.

“The import of crystal sugar did not go through a coordination meeting with the relevant  agencies and without any recommendation from the Ministry of Industry to determine the actual requirement for sugar domestically,” he explained.

This article is based on https://metro.tempo.co/read/1934709/kejagung-klaim-penetapan-tersangka-tom-lembong-bukan-politisasi

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The Suffering Behind the War of Words Between Former Minister Tom Lembong and Ministers Luhut & Bahlil

Press Release, Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), Jan 26, 2024

Indonesia’s Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Gen. (Retd.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan have issued strong responses to remarks made by Thomas Lembong, co-head of the national presidential election campaign of candidates Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar, about Indonesia’s nickel processing policy and electric vehicle industry.

In a recent post by the podcast Total Politik, Lembong, a former Trade Minister and head of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), criticized the extensive smelting initiatives, warning that domestic oversupply risks could depress nickel prices.(1) He also highlighted Tesla’s shift in China to Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) batteries, which eliminates the need for nickel altogether.(2)

The ensuing war of words reflects a focus among Indonesia’s political elite on industrial priorities rather than the welfare of impacted communities. Neither Lembong, nor Ministers Luhut and Bahlil, have publicly acknowledged the detrimental effects of nickel downstreaming on local populations, which has left many impoverished while boosting industry profits.(3) Nickel extraction expansion has displaced communities, polluted water sources, damaged marine ecosystems, degraded forests, and triggered health crises, violence, criminalization, and workplace accidents—some resulting in fatalities.

Also Read: Elections: China Downstream, The Tentacles of Indonesia’s Nickel Oligarchy By Project Multatuli

This dire situation is evident across Indonesia’s major nickel industrial estates, from PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Morowali in southern Sulawesi, PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry in North Morowali, Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry in Konawe, Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Central Halmahera in Maluku province, to the industrial complexes on Obi Island under the Harita Group’s control.

The political and business dynamics of these clashes, set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 2024 presidential election, reveal more than just the flaws in President Joko Widodo’s accelerated nickel downstreaming agenda. Co-ordinating Minister Luhut and Minister Bahlil’s opposition to Lembong’s criticisms could be seen as defending vested interests within Indonesia’s political-business complex.(4)

Minister Bahlil, for instance, has ties to PT Meta Mineral Pradana, a nickel mining company with two concessions in North Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, owned by his PT Papua Bersama Unggul (90% ownership) and PT Rifa Capital (10%).

Similarly, Co-ordinating Minister Luhut’s stake connects him to PT Energi Kreasi Bersama (Electrum), a joint venture between PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk and PT TBS Energi Utama Tbk (TOBA), a company owned by Luhut. Electrum focuses on developing an integrated electric vehicle ecosystem, from manufacturing electric motorcycles and battery technology to battery swapping stations and charging infrastructure. Through GoTo, Luhut’s interests align with Garibaldi “Boy” Thohir, a recent vocal supporter of the presidential election candidates Prabowo Subianto and President Joko Widodo’s son Gibran.(5) Boy Thohir holds shares in and sits on the Board of Commissioners of GoTo.(6)

Ultimately, the high-profile clash involving Tom Lembong, Luhut, and Bahlil appears to prioritize personal and industrial interests over the environmental and social toll of nickel extraction. The nickel debate, rather than addressing the plight of affected communities or mitigating environmental destruction, seems geared toward securing political gains in Indonesia’s 2024 presidential election.

Also Read: Transition: Mass Movements NU and Muhammadiyah To Get Cabinet Posts in New Government After Accepting Mining Permits, Tempo

Regardless of whether Tesla relies on Indonesian nickel, mining operations in Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua continue unabated, with scant regard for the suffering of residents and ongoing environmental degradation.

This article is based on https://jatam.org/id/lengkap/derita-warga-di-balik-saling-serang-tom-lembong-vs-luhut-bahlil. Featured image credit: Former Deputy Chair of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Saut Situmorang is embraced by Anies Baswedan after hearing  Thomas Lembong sentenced to 4.5 years in prison over alleged corruption related to sugar importation at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, Friday (July 18, 2025). (KOMPAS.com/Xena Olivia)

In related news:

One response to “Transition: Widodo Trade Minister Tom Lembong Being Fitted Up, Former National Deputy Police Chief”

  1. Op-Ed: The Politicization of Former Trade Minister’s Arrest – Stories From Indonesia Avatar
    Op-Ed: The Politicization of Former Trade Minister’s Arrest – Stories From Indonesia

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