Tom Lembong Trial, Jokowi Said to Allow TNI AD Cooperatives to Import Sugar

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The former Chairman of the Kartika Cooperative or Inkopkar owned by the Indonesian Army, Felix Hutabarat, admitted that he was unaware of the details of the regulations regarding sugar imports. In fact, Inkopkar is one of the parties that requested sugar imports amounting to hundreds of thousands of tons. The seventh President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, was also mentioned as the party that permitted Inkopkar to import sugar.

This was revealed during the trial of the alleged corruption case involving sugar imports that implicated former Minister of Trade Thomas Trikasih Lembong, also known as Tom Lembong, at the Corruption Court in Jakarta, Tuesday (20/5/2025). Felix was examined as one of the 11 witnesses.

Felix stated that during his leadership, Inkopkar received three assignments for the distribution of white crystal sugar (GKP) to the public. The first was in 2015, amounting to 105,000 tons, followed by the second and third in 2016, each totaling 105,000 and 157,500 tons, respectively. All the sugar was obtained through an import mechanism proposed by Inkopkar via PT Angels Products.

"What I remember is that the sugar stock owned by Angels Products used for market operations must be replaced by importing refined sugar from abroad," he said.

Although acting as the party that proposed the import, Felix is unaware of the import regulations. In fact, sugar imports must refer to the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 117 of 2015, which states that sugar importation for price stabilization should be conducted through the mechanism of importing raw crystal sugar (GKM), not refined sugar.

Moreover, Felix continued, as a soldier, he must be capable of carrying out any tasks assigned by the leadership. In the context of import regulations, the responsibility to understand them falls under the Head of the Business Division of Inkopkar.

What I remember is that the sugar stock owned by Angels Products used for market operations must be replaced by importing refined sugar from abroad.

It is important to note that in the first assignment of the market operation by Inkopkar, the sugar used was GKP and came from the stock of PT Angels Products. Therefore, Inkopkar was required to replace the GKP used through imports. However, instead of importing GKP, Inkopkar ended up importing refined sugar.

During the hearing, the public prosecutor and legal counsel also asked Felix about the authority to import sugar. Felix stated that Inkopkar has the authority as it received a mandate from the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army (KSAD) and is included as one of the "state-owned" institutions.

"Because the Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) ordered me, as he said he received instructions from the President to assist with issues in the regions regarding the prices and availability of sugar," said Felix.

Felix also stated that the authority to import received by Inkopkar was based solely on the verbal statement of the seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, regarding imports that may only be conducted by "state-owned enterprises." Although there is no written regulation, Jokowi had previously mentioned that Inkopkar, which at that time was called the Induk Koperasi TNI Angkatan Darat (Inkopad), is part of the "state-owned enterprises."

From sugar distribution and market operations, Inkopkar received a fee of Rp 75 per kilogram of sugar. The profit was used as operational funds and the rest was included in the remaining business results (SHU) for soldier welfare. According to Felix, the payment of Rp 75 per kilogram was very reasonable to receive. The receipt was never questioned by any party.

It is known that Tom Lembong has been charged with enriching others, resulting in state losses amounting to Rp 515.4 billion. He is alleged to have issued 21 import approval letters for raw crystal sugar, which was processed into white crystal sugar, to companies that were not entitled to it, namely private companies producing refined sugar.

There are 10 individuals who are alleged to have benefited from the corruption case involving sugar imports, including Tonny Wijaya as the President Director of PT Angels Product (IDR 144.1 billion), Wisnu Hendraningrat as the President Director of PT Andalan Furnindo (IDR 41.8 billion), Hansen Setiawan as the President Director of PT Sentra Usahatama Jaya (IDR 36.8 billion), and Indra Suryaningrat as the President Director of PT Medan Sugar Industry (IDR 64.5 billion).

Next, Then Surianto Eka Prasetyo as the Director of PT Makassar Tene (Rp 31.1 billion), Hendrogianto Antonio Tiwon as the Director of PT Duta Sugar International (Rp 41.2 billion), Ali Sanjaya B as the President Director of PT Kebun Tebu Mas (Rp 47.8 billion), Hans Falita Hutama as the President Director of PT Berkah Manis Makmur (Rp 74.5 billion), Eka Sapanca as the Director of PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama (Rp 26.1 billion), and Ramakrishna Prasad Venkatesha Murthy through PT Dharmapala Usaha Sukses (Rp 5.9 billion).

In the indictment, Tom issued import approval letters for GKM for the period of 2015-2016 to the private companies. The approval was granted without being based on a coordination meeting between ministries and without the recommendation from the Ministry of Industry. There are 21 import approval letters for sugar that do not comply with the provisions of the legislation.