Denies Violating Sugar Import Procedures, Tom Lembong Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Former Minister of Trade Thomas Trikasih Lembong, also known as Tom Lembong, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison and a fine of Rp 750 million, with a subsidiary of 6 months in confinement. The public prosecutor considers Tom Lembong guilty of granting sugar import permits without following the correct procedures. However, the defendant in the alleged corruption case regarding sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade during the 2015-2016 period does not feel guilty and does not acknowledge his actions.

The demands against Tom Lembong were read alternately by the public prosecutors led by Sigit Sambodo at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Friday (4/7/2025). The hearing was presided over by Dennie Arsan Fatrika as the Chief Judge, accompanied by Alfis Setiawan and Purwanto S Abdullah as panel judges.

In his demands, the public prosecutor asked the panel of judges to declare Tom Lembong legally and convincingly proven guilty of jointly committing a criminal act of corruption. Tom Lembong was deemed to have violated Article 2 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) ke-1 of the Criminal Code as stated in the primary indictment.

"To impose a prison sentence on the Defendant Thomas Trikasih Lembong for 7 years. To impose a fine on the Defendant amounting to Rp 750 million with the provision that if the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with a detention sentence of 6 months," said the prosecutor.

In their demands, the prosecutor revealed several aggravating factors, thus requesting the judge to sentence Tom Lembong to 7 years in prison. Tom Lembong was deemed not to support the government's program aimed at maintaining a clean state free from corruption, collusion, and nepotism. Furthermore, Tom was considered to show no remorse for his actions. Meanwhile, the mitigating factor was that he had never been previously convicted.

In his explanation, the public prosecutor assessed that Tom was proven to have committed corruption in collaboration with several other parties. Among them are Charles Sitorus, the Director of Business Development at PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia; Tonny Wijaya, the President Director of PT Angels Product; Wisnu Hendraningrat, the President Director of PT Andalan Furnindo; Hansen Setiawan, the President Director of PT Sentra Usahatama Jaya; and Indra Suryaningrat, the President Director of PT Medan Sugar Industry.

In addition, the Director of PT Makassar Tene, Then Surianto Eka Prasetyo; Hendrogianto Antonio Tiwon as the Director of PT Duta Sugar International; Ali Sanjaya B who is the President Director of PT Kebun Tebu Mas; Hans Falita Hutama as the President Director of PT Berkah Manis Makmur; Eka Sapanca as the Director of PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama; and Ramakrishna Prasad Venkatesha Murthy through PT Dharmapala Usaha Sukses.

Similar to Tom Lembong, other parties suspected of having jointly committed corruption in sugar imports have also been legally processed. However, they are being tried in separate cases.

The prosecutor stated that Tom Lembong approved sugar imports for the years 2015-2016 to several companies without going through a coordination meeting. Tom Lembong is considered to have granted approval for the import of raw crystal sugar without a recommendation letter from the Ministry of Industry.

In addition, Tom Lembong was also found to have provided a letter of acknowledgment to those private companies so that they would not qualify as raw sugar importers. The processing of raw sugar into white sugar was also carried out when domestic white sugar production was sufficient due to the onset of the milling season.

The prosecutor also assessed that Tom Lembong had assigned PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI) to procure white crystal sugar. In this procurement, PPI collaborated with refined sugar producers. However, prior to this, the defendant Charles had conspired with nine private sugar companies to manipulate the selling price of sugar from producers to PT PPI and the selling price from PT PPI to distributors. The established sugar prices were also higher than the farmers' benchmark price (HPP).

In addition, instead of collaborating with state-owned enterprises, the prosecutor stated that Tom Lembong instead appointed the Kartika Cooperative, the National Police Cooperative of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Police Cooperative Center to conduct market operations or cheap sugar markets.

"There has been a loss of Rp 515.4 billion, which is part of the state loss amounting to Rp 578.1 billion based on the audit report on the calculation of state financial losses by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP)," said the prosecutor.

According to the prosecutor, from the losses amounting to Rp 515.4 billion, the sugar importing companies also enjoyed profits of varying amounts. These parties may be subject to additional penalties in the form of paying restitution, which will be pursued separately.

After the reading of the indictment, the hearing will continue with the agenda of reading the defense statement. According to the plan, the reading of the defense statement is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

Meanwhile, in the previous hearing on Tuesday (1/7/2025), Tom Lembong admitted that he was not involved in the appointment of 21 private companies for sugar imports. The private companies were directly appointed by PT PPI without any discussion with him.

Tom Lembong also stated that the letter of approval has gone through inter-ministerial coordination meetings. According to him, there have been various meetings held and attended by several Ministries in the Economic Sector.