Jakarta. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has revoked the passports of two high-profile fugitives --oil tycoon Mohammad Riza Chalid and former Education Ministry aide Jurist Tan-- as authorities step up efforts to restrict their movements abroad and bring them home to face corruption charges.

The AGO’s spokesman, Anang Supriatna, said on Tuesday that the move was part of a broader strategy to localize and limit the fugitives’ mobility overseas. “Passport revocation is meant to restrict their movements. If they are abroad, we aim to localize their activities,” Anang told reporters in Jakarta.

He said prosecutors had requested the revocation of Riza’s passport in July and Tan’s in August, adding that the measure does not render them stateless. “When someone’s passport is revoked, they don’t lose their citizenship. But they can no longer travel abroad,” he said.

The AGO believes both men are currently overseas. Without valid travel documents, their presence abroad is now considered illegal. They may only return to Indonesia using a one-time travel document known as SPLP or face deportation for overstaying.

Anang said the passport revocations are being carried out alongside requests for Interpol red notices, allowing global coordination to locate and extradite the suspects. “The request for red notices was filed simultaneously with the passport revocation,” he added.

Jurist Tan, a former special staffer to ex-Education Minister Nadiem Makarim, is wanted in connection with a Rp 9.3 trillion ($573 million) Chromebook procurement project between 2020 and 2022. The program, aimed at supplying 1.2 million laptops for students in remote areas, allegedly caused major state losses after the devices failed to meet program objectives due to poor internet connectivity across the archipelago.

Tan was named a suspect in August after repeatedly ignoring summonses for questioning. Authorities believe he has fled the country, and prosecutors have since escalated the case to international notice procedures.

Meanwhile, Riza Chalid --long known as one of Indonesia’s most influential oil traders-- is accused of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar corruption and money-laundering scheme that caused an estimated $17.5 billion in state losses. Prosecutors allege that between 2018 and 2023, Riza colluded with executives at state oil giant Pertamina to manipulate crude oil procurement and lease storage terminals through his companies Tangki Merak and Orbit Terminal Merak.

Riza has been on the AGO’s wanted list since Aug. 19 and is believed to have fled to Malaysia after his passport was revoked in February. The AGO has already seized several of his assets, including luxury cars, properties, and Rp 833 million ($51,000) in cash.

Interpol Indonesia confirmed that the red notice request for Riza had been submitted to Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, and is now under review.

Once a dominant figure in Indonesia’s oil trade, Riza previously controlled Pertamina’s trading arm, Petral, and has been linked to multiple corruption scandals, including a 2008 crude import case that was dropped for lack of evidence.

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