Indonesia: State Loss in Toba Pulp Case Reaches Preliminary Rp2 Trillion

Indonesia's Attorney General's Office (Kejagung) announced preliminary state losses have reached Rp2 trillion ($125 million) in a corruption case linked to PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) Tbk. The alleged corruption involves two tax examiners who are accused of ignoring export manipulation by the company.

Director of Investigation at Kejagung, Saiful Bahri Siregar, stated that the examiners' oversight led to a decrease in state revenue. "From our investigation, a preliminary loss of Rp2 trillion has been obtained," Siregar said at a press conference. He emphasized that this figure is not final and awaits official calculation by auditors.

The two suspects, identified as BP and SR, are tax examiners from the Ministry of Finance. They are accused of aiding PT TPL in manipulating tax values from pulp exports between 2008 and 2025. The company allegedly used "under invoicing," reporting its products with a different Harmonized System (HS) code to misrepresent their value and characteristics.

Kejagung stated that PT TPL exported products under the guise of "paper grade pulp" or "bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP)" when they were actually "dissolving pulp." This misclassification, particularly in sales to PT Asia Pacific Rayon or affiliated companies, resulted in lower recorded sales values and, consequently, reduced corporate tax payments to the state. The suspects have been detained for 20 days.