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KPK launches investigation into Petral
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has officially opened a probe into alleged corruption at now-defunct oil and gas trading company Pertamina Energy Trading (Petral) and its subsidiaries
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he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has officially opened a probe into alleged corruption at now-defunct oil and gas trading company Pertamina Energy Trading (Petral) and its subsidiaries.
The launch of the KPK investigation comes after the antigraft body analyzed an audit conducted by state-owned oil and gas operator Pertamina and submitted to the KPK by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, which found irregularities in the procurement, worth Rp 250 trillion, of crude oil by Petral and its subsidiaries between 2012 and 2014.
Acting KPK deputy chairman Indriyanto Seno Adji confirmed on Sunday the opening of the investigation, adding that commission investigators had already reached the preliminary phase of investigation into the case; KPK investigators have been into the field to collect evidence, which they are now analyzing to determine who will be summoned for clarifications in the case.
'The data is currently being analyzed in the preliminary investigation phase,' Indriyanto, who is a prominent legal expert from the University of Indonesia (UI), told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
According to the findings, third parties ' not Pertamina management ' intervened in the procurement of oil and crude oil for Pertamina Energy Services, a subsidiary of Petral.
As a result of the intervention, Pertamina received crude oil and fuel supplies at uncompetitive prices, while discounts that the company should have enjoyed in the process were purloined by those third parties.
The KPK investigation is focusing on discovering the identities of those who illicitly benefitted.
Energy and Mineral Minister Sudirman Said earlier explained that his office had instructed Pertamina, as the parent company, to reform Petral's management, partly in response to the alleged legal violation uncovered by the audit.
Bambang Soesatyo, a member of the Golkar Party and the House of Representative's Commission III overseeing legal affairs, urged the KPK to ascertain any relationship between the alleged irregularities and the leap in the price of subsidized fuel between January 2012 and May 2014.
'The findings [of the audit] suggest there were mark-up practices, which have long been an issue. The government's reluctance to fix this leads one to suspect that the government [of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] turned a blind eye to such practices,' Bambang added.
In May, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno announced a plan to liquidate Petral and its subsidiaries, with the process expected to be completed by April next year.
Petral Group's total assets stand at around US$2 billion, mostly in the form of payable accounts.
The group previously functioned as a broker for Pertamina's oil export and import activities.
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