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AGO refutes rumors of involvement of minister Erick in Pertamina case
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Workers wait for customers on March 4, 2025, at a gas station of state-owned oil company Pertamina in Surabaya.
(AFP/Juni kriswanto)
T
he Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has refuted rumors that it had found indications that State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir and his brother Gariibaldi “Boy” Thohir were involved in corruption-ridden fuel imports at state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina.
The AGO recently named nine suspects – six higher-ups at Pertamina subsidiaries and three executives from private oil and gas companies – for alleged involvement in the embezzlement scheme that is estimated to have cost the state Rp 193.7 trillion (US$11.9 billion) in losses.
The suspects allegedly manipulated Pertamina’s oil import and export deals from 2018 to 2023 by reducing refinery output to force imports through rigged tenders with inflated prices, as well as procuring lower-octane subsidized gasoline to be sold fraudulently at a higher price.
An unverified video suggesting that the AGO has collected evidence in the forms of financial records and other documents indicating the involvement of Erick and Boy, alongside other influential figures, in the Pertamina corruption case recently made rounds on social media.
“I have asked the investigators [about the rumors] and they did not find any such accounts,” AGO spokesman Harli Siregar said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara, while questioning the source of the information.
He also said that the investigation into the fuel import case was still ongoing, adding that investigators worked based on evidence – and not rumors.
Read also: Pertamina apologizes for graft-ridden fuel import scandal
