DIGIVESTASI - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named a wealthy man from Surabaya, Budi Said, as a suspect in a corruption case of abuse of power to sell more than one ton of precious metal gold at the Surabaya 1 Boutique of PT Aneka Tambang (Persero) Tbk.

Based on the development of the case, from March to November 2018, Budi Said and a number of Antam officials allegedly carried out a malicious plan to organize gold trading by setting the selling price below the level set by the company. Setting the gold price lower than Antam's price was done as if the SOE was offering a discount program. Second, the trade conducted by the parties, including Budi Said, used a trading model outside the Antam mechanism so that the company did not know what precious metals or silver were entering and leaving the trade. 

As a result, there was a large difference between the amount of money given by the Surabaya businessman to Antam and the amount of pure metal donated. In this way, the parties concealed the significant discrepancy by writing an allegedly false letter, ostensibly to confirm the legitimacy of the precious metal transaction. As a result, PT Antam initially suffered a loss of 1,136 tons of metal, equivalent to Rp 1.1 trillion, Kuntadi explained.

Currently, the Attorney General's Office is conducting searches and seizures related to the case. Investigators also examined 24 witnesses in the case, which was investigated in December 2023. As reported by Bisnis, the state mining company was sued by Budi Said for 1.1 tons of gold. This case began when Budi sued Antam for Rp 817.4 billion or the equivalent of 1.1 tons of gold at the Surabaya District Court.

Budi Said initially claimed to have bought 7 tons of gold at Antam's Surabaya I Precious Metal Gold shop after being offered a discount by several employees of the shop. However, he only received 5.9 tons of gold, while the remaining 1.1 tons were not received. Budi Said is known as a Surabaya group whose main business is in real estate, including housing, apartments, and shopping centers.

Reporting from various sources, Budi Said also serves as Chairman Director of PT Tridjaya Kartika Group. Budi Said is now officially detained by special investigators of the Attorney General's Office today, Thursday (January 18, 2024), for the next 20 days, at the Salemba branch of the Attorney General's Office.

Budi is the only suspect named by the AGO to date. Budi was also examined by the AGO as a witness before being named a suspect. Based on the results of a thorough examination and the evidence obtained, today you have upgraded the status of the person involved to a suspect. . Kuntadi in Jakarta, Thursday (January 18, 2024).