Former Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita Allegedly Caused State Losses of IDR 578.1 Billion with Tom Lembong

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Enggartiasto Lukita is said to be involved in a case of alleged corruption regarding sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade during his leadership of the ministry from 2016 to 2019.

He is said to have approved the import of raw crystal sugar for several companies without following the applicable mechanisms. Not only that, the companies that obtained import permits are not entitled to process Raw Crystal Sugar into White Crystal Sugar because they are refining sugar companies. Along with the defendants in this case, Enggartiasto is reported to have caused state financial losses amounting to Rp 578.1 billion.

This was revealed in the indictment letter of the President Director of PT Angels Product, Tony Wijaya, which was read by the public prosecutor at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday (19/6/2015). Tony Wijaya is one of nine defendants from the private company cluster implicated in the alleged corruption case regarding sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade for the years 2015-2016. The reading of the indictment for the nine defendants was divided into two court sessions.

In addition to Tony Wijaya, the other defendants include the Director of PT Makassar Tene Then Surianto Eka Prasetyo; the Director of PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama Eka Sapanca; the Director of PT Duta Segar International Hendrogiarto Antonio Tiwon; and the President Director of PT Berkah Manis Makmur, Hans Falita Hutama. The indictment for these five defendants was read first by the public prosecutor.

Meanwhile, the four other defendants, namely the President Director of PT Kebun Tebu Mas (KTM) Ali Sandjaja Boedidarmo, the President Director of PT Andalan Furnindo (AF) Wisnu Hendraningrat, the President Director of PT Sentra Usahatama Jaya (SUJ) Hansen Setiawan, and the President Director of PT Medan Sugar Industry (MSI) Indra Suryaningrat, will be presented in the next session of the hearing.

The trial was led by Chief Justice Dennie Arsan Fatrika accompanied by two member judges Purwanto S Abdullah and Alfis Setiawan.

It is important to note that this case also involves former Minister of Trade 2015-2016 Thomas Trikasih Lembong, or Tom Lembong, and the Director of Business Development at PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia, Charles Sitorus. Both are also defendants, and their case is still ongoing in the Jakarta Corruption Court.

The situation is different with Enggartiasto Lukita who has not been touched in the investigation process by the Attorney General's Office.

Prosecutor Sigit Sambodi stated that Tony Wijaya, along with eight other defendants, as well as Tom Lembong, Charles Sitorus, and Enggartiasto Lukita, are considered to have committed or participated in unlawful acts together.

In 2015-2016, the nine defendants from the private company cluster, along with Ramakrishna Prasad Venkatesha Murthy as the President Director of PT Dharmapala Usaha Sukses, submitted a request for recognition/approval of the import of Raw Crystal Sugar (GKM) for the purpose of establishing sugar stock and stabilizing sugar prices to Tom Lembong as the Minister of Trade.

The submission should have been accompanied by a recommendation from the Ministry of Industry and preceded by a coordination meeting among ministries. However, without these procedures, Tom Lembong still issued 21 Acknowledgments/Approvals for the Import of Raw Crystal Sugar in the context of the assignment for the formation of sugar stocks and the stabilization of sugar prices.

Next, in 2016-2019, Tony Wijaya along with four other defendants Then Surianto Eka Prasetyo, Eka Sapanca, Hendrogiarto Antonio Tiwow, and Hans Falita Hutama again submitted a request for the import approval of raw crystal sugar for the purpose of establishing sugar stock and stabilizing sugar prices to Enggartiasto Lukita, who was serving as the Minister of Trade at that time.

Subsequently, similar to the era of Tom Lembong, Enggartiasto Lukita issued seven Import Approvals for Raw Crystal Sugar to private companies without going through inter-ministerial coordination meetings and recommendations from the Ministry of Industry.

According to the prosecutor, both Tom Lembong and Enggartiasto Lukita should have known that all of those companies were not entitled to process Raw Crystal Sugar into White Crystal Sugar because the companies are refining sugar companies.

Not only that, the defendant Tony Wijaya submitted a Declaration as an Importer of Raw Crystal Sugar (GKM) to Tom Lembong as the Minister of Trade to be processed into White Crystal Sugar (GKP) when domestic production of White Crystal Sugar is sufficient and the importation/realization of Raw Crystal Sugar occurs during the milling season.

Tony Wijaya, as the President Director of PT Angels Products, also distributes refined sugar for market operations in collaboration with the Kartika Cooperative (Inkopkar), where refined sugar should only be sold or distributed to industries and is prohibited from being traded in the domestic market.

In addition, Tony Wijaya, along with eight other defendants, also collaborated with the Indonesian Trading Company, as part of an assignment from the Ministry of Trade, to agree on the pricing arrangements for sugar sales from producers to the Indonesian Trading Company (Persero) (PT PPI) and the pricing arrangements for sales from PT PPI to distributors above the Farmer's Reference Price (HPP).

The nine defendants, during the import process, only paid the import duty and Import-Related Tax (PDRI) equivalent to the import value of Raw Crystal Sugar. In fact, the import duty and PDRI that should have been paid were equivalent to the import value of White Crystal Sugar for the price stabilization assignment/market operation.

As a result of the actions of the defendants together with Tom Lembong, Charles Sitorus, and Enggartiasto Lukita, the state finances suffered a loss of up to Rp 578.1 billion. This is based on the Report of the Audit Results on the Calculation of State Financial Losses Due to Alleged Corruption in the Sugar Import Activities at the Ministry of Trade for the years 2015-2016.

They also participated in actions to enrich themselves, others, or corporations, including Tony Wijaya through PT Angels Product (IDR 150.8 billion), Wisnu Hendraningrat through PT Andalan Furnindo (IDR 60.9 billion), Hansen Setiawan through PT Sentra Usahatama Jaya (IDR 41.3 billion), and Indra Suryaningrat through PT Medan Sugar Industry (IDR 77.2 billion).

Next, Then Surianto Eka Prasetyo through PT Makassar Tene (Rp 39.2 billion), Hendrogiarto Antonio Tiwon through PT Duta Sugar International (Rp 41.2 billion), Hans Falita Hutama through PT Berkah Manis Makmur (Rp 74.5 billion), Eka Sapanca through PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama (Rp 32 billion).

The prosecutor considers the defendants to have violated Article 2 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law No. 20/2001 concerning Amendments to Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) Sub-1 of the Criminal Code or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law No. 20/2001 concerning Amendments to Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) Sub-1 of the Criminal Code.

Regarding the indictment read by the public prosecutor, the defendants stated that they would not file an exception. Therefore, the hearing will continue with witness examinations, which will begin next week on Thursday, June 26, 2025.