Attorney General’s Office Questions BGN Experts and Foundation Officials in MBG Corruption Probe
Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office questioned seven witnesses in an alleged corruption case involving the 2025-2026 Free Nutritious Meals program.
- The witnesses included experts and officials linked to the National Nutrition Agency, contracting officers and a foundation representative.
- Prosecutors have named seven suspects and allege that affiliated foundations received contracts and that procurement prices were inflated.
Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office has questioned seven witnesses as it investigates alleged corruption in the management of the Free Nutritious Meals program, known as MBG, for 2025-2026.
The questioning took place on Monday, Aug. 31, according to Anang Supriatna, head of the agency’s Legal Information Center. The witnesses included two experts at the National Nutrition Agency, two contracting officials, an agency civil servant and a representative of the HMB foundation.
The investigative team carried out investigative activities by questioning seven witnesses.
Anang said investigators questioned the witnesses to strengthen the evidence and complete the case file. He said the investigation would continue professionally, independently and accountably, while respecting the presumption of innocence and the principle of caution.
The questioning of witnesses was conducted by investigators to strengthen the evidence and complete the case file in question.
The agency had previously named seven suspects in the case. They include former National Nutrition Agency head Dadan Hindayana, former deputy heads Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung, Sony’s associate Asep Yusuf Somantri, PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal commissioner Andri Mulyono, Indonesia Food Security Review Foundation chairman Glory Harimas Sihombing and National Nutrition Agency deputy secretary Brig. Gen. Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan.
Prosecutors said the program should have been managed by foundations running Nutrition Service and Fulfillment Units affiliated with recipient schools. Instead, many units were allegedly selected because they had links to senior agency officials, while some partner foundations allegedly failed to meet eligibility requirements. Investigators also cited alleged markups in procurement, including 21,801 electric motorcycles valued at 1.03 trillion rupiah, 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablets and 5,400 75-inch televisions.
The investigation will continue professionally, independently and accountably, while upholding the presumption of innocence and the principle of caution.
About this summary
Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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