he Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has said investigators are wrapping up the investigation into former trade minister Thomas Lembong in regard to sugar imports he authorized nearly a decade ago.
On Tuesday, three months after he was named a suspect, Thomas was interrogated as a witness in the investigation into another suspect, Charles Sitorus, then director for business development at the state trading firm PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI).
“What is certain is that Thomas was examined as a witness for [Charles] and vice versa. This means that the investigators are nearly reaching their conclusion,” AGO spokesperson Harli Siregar said on Tuesday, as quoted from Antara.
Thomas was charged and arrested in October of last year for alleged embezzlement in raw sugar imports in 2015 and 2016 that caused Rp 400 billion (US$24.56 million) in state losses.
Read also: Ex-minister’s arrest sparks more questions than answers
Thomas, who at the time was the trade minister, allegedly greenlit two botched imports when the country already had a surplus of raw sugar, enabling eight private companies to pocket profits that should have gone into the coffers of the state trading firm PPI.
Thomas has maintained his innocence and filed with the South Jakarta District Court in November a pretrial motion challenging the AGO’s decision to arrest and name him a suspect.
But he lost the pretrial case later in the month after the sole judge in the hearing concluded that the AGO had found sufficient evidence against Thomas to name him a suspect.
Read also: South Jakarta district judge rejects Tom Lembong’s pretrial motion
Shortly after his interrogation on Tuesday, Thomas told reporters at the AGO headquarters that “there are new hopes this year, even though more challenges await”, kompas.com reported.
He did not elaborate on his statement. (rad)
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