Jakarta. East Java prosecutors are investigating alleged corruption in the state-owned train company Industri Kereta Api (INKA) involving a railway project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).

Mia Amiati, head of the East Java Prosecutor’s Office, recently said that INKA and its affiliate allegedly set up a joint venture company in Singapore to build a power plant in Kinshasa, DR Congo’s capital, before the main railway infrastructure project could commence.

INKA injected funds into the joint venture, named JV TSG Infrastructure, but the power plant project never materialized, she said.

The joint venture, initiated in 2020, comprises INKA Multi Solusi, a subsidiary of INKA, and TSG Utama, an affiliate of an undisclosed foreign company.

"The foreign company requested a separate project to build a power plant in Kinshasa before the railway transportation and infrastructure project could proceed,” Mia said.

The funds were disbursed without collateral, despite the joint venture not being fully owned by INKA, prompting prosecutors to launch a corruption investigation, she added.

Mia said state auditors are currently calculating the estimated state losses from the scandal.

Earlier this week, prosecutors conducted a search at INKA headquarters in Madiun, East Java, and confiscated documents.

The company has not responded to requests for comment.