Jakarta. The Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday named 11 suspects in an alleged corruption scheme involving crude palm oil (CPO) exports that prosecutors say was designed to bypass government export restrictions.

Director of Investigations Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi said preliminary estimates put potential state losses at as much as Rp 14 trillion ($835 million), pending a formal audit by state auditors.

Investigators alleged that the suspects manipulated export classifications by declaring CPO shipments as palm oil mill effluent (POME), a waste byproduct, to avoid tighter export controls.

“Investigators found irregularities in the form of engineered commodity classifications, where exports that were substantively high-acid CPO were deliberately claimed as POME using a different Harmonized System code intended for CPO waste,” Syarief said.

“The purpose of this misclassification was to evade CPO export restrictions, allowing what was essentially crude palm oil to be shipped overseas as if it were not CPO, thereby avoiding or reducing state-imposed obligations,” he added.

The suspects include one official from the Industry Ministry, two officials from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, and eight executives from private palm oil companies. Authorities disclosed their identities only by initials.

All 11 have been detained at an Attorney General’s Office holding facility for an initial 20-day period, which may be extended depending on the progress of the investigation, Syarief said.

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