Indonesian prosecutors raid companies of coal tycoon accused of illegal mining operations

Indonesia’s Attorney General Office said on Monday that it has raided companies linked to the coal ​tycoon Samin Tan after he was identified over the weekend ‌as a suspect in alleged illegal mining activities.

Samin Tan is a once-influential deal-maker known for his $1 billion investment in Bumi Plc, ​which helped rescue Indonesia’s powerful Bakrie family from a looming default.

The AGO ​said the contract of work for Tan’s coal company, ⁠PT Asmin Koalindo Tuhup (AKT), was terminated in 2017, but ​the company allegedly continued mining operations up to 2025.

The case is ​the latest in Jakarta’s crackdown against illegal mining after President Prabowo Subianto vowed to eradicate bad practices in the exploitation of Indonesia’s natural resources.

Prosecutors have ​raided and seized a number of assets linked to ​AKT and Samin Tan, and have questioned more than 20 witnesses, AGO spokeperson Anang ‌Supriatna ⁠told reporters on Monday.

“The raids and seizures are aimed at searching assets suspected of being related to, or are the proceeds of, crime,” he said.

A government task force has previously ​seized nearly 1,700 ​hectares (4,200.79 acres) ⁠of the AKT mine in Central Kalimantan.

The AGO is currently calculating the losses to the ​state caused by the alleged crime, Anang ​said, and ⁠a government task force has imposed a 4.2 trillion rupiah ($247.20 million)administration fine on the company.

Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission named Tan as a suspect ⁠in a ​bribery case in 2019, but ​he was legally exonerated.

Tan’s legal representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

($1 = 16,990 rupiah)

(By Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by David Stanway)