Semendawai media.com
The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) said that the alleged corruption case of illegal tin mining on land owned by PT Timah, which resulted in state economic losses of up to IDR 271 trillion, had not touched the “main players”.
MAKI Coordinator, Boyamin Saiman, claims he has enough evidence to reveal the involvement of a businessman with the initials RBS as the alleged official benefit or main beneficiary of profits from the illegal mining.
In the latest development, the Attorney General’s Office is examining a figure suspected of being RBS, namely Robert Bonosusatya, because he is considered to be related to PT Refined Bangka Tin.
After being questioned for 13 hours, Robert remained silent when asked about his connection to the company and suspect Harvey Moeis.
The Director of Investigation at the Attorney General’s Jampidsus, Kuntadi, said there was not yet sufficient evidence to link this matter.
Meanwhile, the environmental NGO Walhi Bangka Belitung assesses that the state’s economic losses in the case of illegal tin mining in the region are greater than IDR 271 trillion because it has not accumulated damage to the ecosystem on the coast and sea.
Attorney General’s Office examines witness RBS
Attorney General’s Office investigators again examined a witness who was suspected of being related to the criminal act of corruption in illegal tin mining in the PT Timah business permit area, namely Robert Bonosusatya, on Monday (02/04).
In this case, investigators suspect that Robert is related to PT Refined Bangka Tin. This company was previously mentioned by the AGO as being represented by Harvey Moeis to accommodate illegal mining on land owned by PT Timah.
The husband of actress Sandra Dewi reportedly contacted PT Timah official Mochtar Riza Pahlevi Tabrani and asked him to accept illegal mining activities in the PT Timah IUP area.
Robert was questioned by investigators for 13 hours. But as soon as he left the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) building, he remained silent when asked about his connection to PT Refined Bangka Tin and Harvey Moeis.
He even asked journalists to ask investigators about this.
“Please go to the investigators,” he said as reported by Kompas.id.
Who is RBS and what is its track record?
Before Robert Bonosusatya was questioned by the Attorney General, the NGO Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society had sent an open summons to the Prosecutor’s Office to immediately name a figure with the initials RBS as a suspect in the illegal tin mining corruption case on land owned by PT Timah.
MAKI Coordinator, Boyamin Saiman, said that RBS was the main actor and user of the proceeds of corruption which caused losses to the country’s economy of up to IDR 271 trillion.
Because he claims, RBS is the person who founded and financed companies that were used as tools to carry out tin mining corruption.
“RBS is suspected of being the official benefit (the main beneficiary of the profits and the real owner) of the companies involved in illegal tin mining,” said Boyamin.
“So RBS should be charged with the criminal act of money laundering in order to confiscate all its assets.”
Boyamin admitted that he had documents that could prove that RBS was the largest shareholder in PT Refined Bangka Tin, not Harvey Moeis as has been advertised.
Although, he said, RBS and Harvey were actually business partners in other mining companies in Kalimantan.
“RBS is the boss of the boss. His shares are the biggest. I understand what kind of person RBS is and what he does,” said Boyamin to BBC News Indonesia.
That’s why Boyamin urged the Prosecutor’s Office to immediately name RBS as a suspect within one month. Because if not, MAKI will file a pretrial lawsuit.
At the pretrial hearing, he will reveal documents that support his allegations. Including mining company documents that show there is a business relationship between RBS and Harvey Moeis in Kalimantan.
In the case in Bangka Belitung, Boyamin said that Harvey Moeis was just an “accomplice” of RBS.
“If later the Prosecutor’s Office deems there is not enough evidence [to determine RBS as a suspect], we will open a pre-trial hearing to ensure it is fair. There we can provide data to each other and argue between me and the investigator.”
He said, this subpoena was issued so that the disclosure of the case would be more serious and drag out the “main players”.
“Because I am following this case, I am monitoring it and want investigators to catch the ultimate beneficiaries.”
What was the Prosecutor’s response?
Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office, Kuntadi, said that the examination of RBS was not carried out at anyone’s pressure, but for the interests of investigators.
However, based on the results of the RBS examination which took place yesterday, investigators are said to be still investigating Robert’s connection with PT Refined Bangka Tin.
Even though Robert is said to be the owner of the company, he is not listed as a commissioner or director at all.
“As long as there is not sufficient evidence, of course we will not [link it] that way. What is clear is that we see that there is an urgency that we need to clarify with the person concerned to make this criminal incident clearer,” said Kuntadi as reported by Kompas.id.
So far, AGO investigators have examined 172 witnesses to investigate the alleged corruption case in the management of tin at a mine owned by PT Timah in 2015-2022.
Investigators have also named 15 suspects for alleged corruption and one suspect for obstruction of investigations in a case related to the governance of the tin mine.
Meanwhile, crazy rich Pantai Indak Kapuk, Helena Lim, was named the 15th suspect for her role as Manager of PT Quantum Skyline Exchange (QSE).
The day after, businessman Harvey Moeis became the 16th suspect in the case.
What is Harvey Moeis’ role?
The prosecutor’s office said that Harvey Moeis was a representative of PT Refined Bangka Tin around 2018-2019.
Harvey is said to have contacted the Main Director of PT Timah, Mochtar Riza Pahlevi Tabrani (MRPT) alias Riza, who is already a suspect, with the intention of accommodating illegal tin mining activities in the PT Timah IUP area.
In several communications, the two agreed to cooperate in illegal mining activities that were “disguised” through renting tin processing equipment.
After that, Harvey contacted several tin processing companies or smelters to participate in tin processing.
“This HM contacted several smelters, namely PT SIP, CV VIP (Venus Inti Perkasa), PT SPS, and PT TIN (Tinindo Inter Nusa),” explained the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office, Kuntadi.
Harvey then allegedly asked a number of tin management companies to deposit some of the profits from illegal tin mining activities under the pretext of paying for corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
The money was sent via PT Quantum Skyline Exchange (QSE) which is owned by Helena Lim.
According to Kuntadi, Harvey is not listed as a manager at PT Refined Bangka Tin. He also did not provide details regarding the management or owners of the company.
Due to these actions, investigators charged Harvey with violating Article 2 Paragraph (1) and Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code.
Harvey was immediately detained at the South Jakarta District Attorney’s State Detention Center (Rutan).
How much is the loss to the country’s economy from illegal mining?
The Attorney General’s Office said that the state’s economic losses in the case of illegal tin mining in PT Timah’s mining business permit or IUP area reached IDR 271 trillion.
These economic losses are related to environmental damage caused by mining activities in forest and non-forest areas.
This also includes environmental economic losses and environmental restoration costs.
“The former mining area that should have been restored turned out not to have been restored at all and was just abandoned, leaving a huge hole,” said the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office, Kuntadi.
Because of the mine hole, 15 people died
However, the Executive Director of Walhi Bangka Belitung Islands, Ahmad Subhan Hafiz, asked the Attorney General’s Office to complete its study regarding the state’s economic losses in cases of illegal tin mining in PT Timah’s mining business permit or IUP areas.
Because the calculation of the country’s economic losses, which is said to have reached IDR 271 trillion, has not been fully completed.
According to him, losses to the country’s economy in the form of environmental damage do not only occur in forest and non-forest areas. But also, in coastal and marine areas.
“We encourage the state to also accumulate losses in coastal and marine areas, because the Bangka Belitung landscape cannot be separated from land and sea. The living space of the Babylonian people is in sea and land areas,” said Ahmad Subhan Hafiz to BBC News Indonesia, Monday (01/04 ).
“And Walhi sees that the Rp. 271 trillion figure could be higher because it has not yet accumulated damage to coastal and marine ecosystems, as well as the deaths of dozens of people.”
Referring to Walhi Bangka Belitung data, the area of mining land according to excavated materials and mining business permits in 2019 reached more than one million hectares, out of the total area of Bangka Belitung of around 1.6 million hectares.
Of that figure, almost 50% of mining permits are owned by PT Timah. The rest is managed by hundreds of companies.
Unfortunately, according to Walhi, there is massive deforestation due to tin mining in forest areas because the majority of companies that have permits or not have never carried out reclamation or restoration.
As a result, more than 12,000 tin mining holes were left gaping.
“We estimate that there are 12,607 mining holes that have not been reclaimed for three years, from 2021 to 2023,” he explained.
“If you calculate tens of thousands of mining holes, it equals an area of 15,579 hectares.”
Because of the mining hole, 21 cases of drowning were recorded.
Of the 15 victims who died, 12 of them were children and teenagers aged 7-20 years.
Apart from causing deaths, mining holes also trigger new sources of disease – whether they are mosquito nests or dangerous locations because they have quite high levels of radiation.
And, what is no less terrible, he said, is causing drought disasters.
“In 2023, we experienced a drought. Water sources in Bangka Belitung experienced a crisis. People ended up taking water sources from mining pits with dangerous water quality.”
Apart from causing deaths, mining holes also trigger new sources of disease – whether they are mosquito nests or dangerous locations because they have quite high levels of radiation.
And, what is no less terrible, he said, is causing drought disasters.
“In 2023, we experienced a drought. Water sources in Bangka Belitung experienced a crisis. People ended up taking water sources from mining pits with dangerous water quality.”
As a result of mining, thousands of hectares of coral reefs have died
Ahmad Subhan said that tin mining activities do not only take place in forest areas. However, it has spread to coastal and marine areas because “on land it no longer supports it, aka it has run out”.
In fact, in the midst of ongoing damage to terrestrial ecosystems, people’s hopes rest on the ocean in the Bangka Belitung Islands, which covers an area of around 6.5 million hectares.
However, he said, manufactured suction pontoon boats or TI Rajuk which were used for illegal tin mining filled the coast of Babylon.
“The problem is that the IUP in the Babel sea area is very large and this is a new problem because the spatial planning here accommodates more mining at sea,” he said.
Walhi Bangka Belitung strongly suspects that tin mined from coastal and marine areas is being stored by illegal processing companies or smelters which are now being handled by the Attorney General’s Office.
Because it is impossible for the results of illegal tin mining to be handed over to licensed smelter companies.
On this basis, he asked the Attorney General’s Office to help trace the flow of illegal tin from upstream to downstream.
“We have to trace where the tin flows, is PT Timah involved in collecting illegal tin from the coast?”
In their activities, these production suction pontoon boats also trigger conflicts with fishermen. This is because fishermen’s catches are decreasing due to mining waste pollution.
Because not only is it polluting, tin mining which is carried out by sucking up sea sand causes coral reefs to be destroyed and die.
“In some cases mining waste can be carried as far as 6-7 miles. Mining waste in the form of unused oil and sand is thrown back into the sea.”
Walhi Bangka Belitung notes, the area of coral reefs in Babel in 2015 reached 82,259 hectares. But in 2017, the coral reef ecosystem was only 12,474 hectares.
This means that the coral reefs in Babylon have decreased by 64,514 hectares in the last two years and around 5,270 hectares have died.
Other impacts from tin mining on the coast and sea also increase the conflict between crocodiles and humans.
Throughout 2021 to 2023, Walhi claims, there were 25 cases of crocodile-human conflict which resulted in 14 people dying and 12 others being injured.
In this way, Walhi Babel urges the central and regional governments to put a moratorium on new permits both on land and at sea.
Then immediately carry out environmental law enforcement and restoration based on local wisdom.
His observation so far is that many traditional territories have been lost – both sea and land – due to spatial planning patterns that have industrial nuances and ignore the perspective of local communities in managing their natural environment.
“Most importantly, existing permits are reviewed and evaluated because they damage the environment and take away people’s living space and trigger conflict.”
(refraction release)
