Indonesian investigators have asked Singapore-based oil traders to attend meetings in the city-state next week as part of a $12-billion corruption investigation into the state-owned oil company PT Pertamina.
The requests from the attorney general’s office (AGO) come after earlier notices were sent over the past month, seeking cooperation in the investigation into alleged corrupt practices at Pertamina.
Previously, the AGO had asked the traders to attend in-person meetings in Jakarta, and also suggested the office of Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau as a possible venue, without specifying a date.
Some Singapore-based traders have been summoned for questioning from Monday through Wednesday next week, although the AGO hasn’t yet received confirmation on whether they will show up, said AGO spokesman Harli Siregar.
“What matters is that they’re willing to be questioned,” he said via text message. “If investigators have to go (to Singapore), that’s not a problem. We’ll just wait and hope everything goes smoothly as scheduled.”
Singapore-based traders and companies that have received the requests have sought external legal advice on their obligation to accede to demands by a foreign entity in the city-state, according to people directly involved in these efforts, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorised to speak publicly.
A number of executives at subsidiaries of Pertamina were arrested earlier this year for alleged corruption related to oil imports between 2018 and 2023 that caused $12 billion in state losses.
Pertamina publicly apologised and promised to improve transparency following the arrests.