Jakarta. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has uncovered an alleged corruption scheme involving the illegal export of rare earth minerals, charging three suspects over a case that investigators say involved manipulated laboratory tests and export documents.

The investigation, covering the period from 2018 to 2026, centers on Putraprima Mineral Mandiri (PMM), which allegedly attempted to export rare earth-bearing minerals despite Indonesia's ban on raw rare earth exports.

The suspects are Iwan Setiawan, a representative of PMM; Gian Prabuharto, head of Sucofindo's service unit in Pangkalpinang; and Junanto Kurniawan, head of the Pangkalpinang Type C Customs Office.

According to the AGO, the investigation stemmed from findings by the government's Forest Area Enforcement Task Force.

Investigators alleged that Iwan enlisted Gian to manipulate laboratory testing of ilmenite mineral samples. Instead of conducting a comprehensive analysis, Gian allegedly tested only the surface layer of the material, allowing rare earth content to go undetected. The laboratory report was also allegedly falsified to show the ilmenite grade exceeded the minimum requirement for export approval.

The alleged scheme nearly enabled PMM to illegally export about 390 metric tons of rare earth minerals before the shipment was intercepted by authorities near Batam. The Attorney General's Office is also tracing two earlier shipments of suspected rare earth minerals that may have evaded detection and is investigating their export destinations.

"There were two other shipments that got through," Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, Director of Investigations at the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Special Crimes, told a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The Attorney General's Office has seized 15 containers in Batam. Investigators are now working to determine the export destinations of the two shipments that are believed to have left Indonesia.

"We are currently tracing where those exports were sent," Syarief said.

Authorities said the manipulated survey report was then used by Junanto to approve the export permit, despite customs laboratory analyses indicating that the shipment contained rare earth minerals.

The alleged collusion nearly enabled the illegal export of around 390 metric tons of rare earth minerals before the shipment was intercepted by authorities in waters near Batam.

The three suspects have been detained for an initial 20-day period at the Attorney General's detention facility. They have been charged under Articles 603 and/or 604 in conjunction with Article 20 of Indonesia's 2023 Criminal Code.

The Attorney General's Office is coordinating with the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) to calculate the state's financial and economic losses resulting from the case.

Rare earth elements, a group of 17 strategic minerals essential for products ranging from smartphones and electric vehicle batteries to wind turbines and advanced defense systems, are subject to Indonesia's export restrictions as part of the government's downstream processing policy aimed at increasing domestic value-added production.

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