Jakarta. A Jakarta court on Thursday sentenced former Pertamina Patra Niaga chief executive Riva Siahaan to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption linked to the illegal blending of fuel products.

The scandal marks one of the largest corruption cases tied to Indonesia’s energy sector in recent years, intensifying scrutiny over governance and oversight within state-owned enterprises. 

Presiding judge Fajar Kusuma Aji said Riva had been convincingly proven to have committed corruption alongside several other executives at the state energy distributor between 2018 and 2023.

Prosecutors alleged that lower-grade fuel was unlawfully blended and sold to the public as higher-quality products at premium prices, generating illicit gains.

Riva did not immediately file an appeal but criticized the verdict.

“I believe there are still many facts from the trial that were not considered. Time will reveal the truth,” he said after the sentencing hearing.

In the same case, the court also sentenced his former colleagues — Maya Kusmaya, a former marketing director, to nine years in prison, and Edward Corne, former vice president of trading operations, to 10 years.

The sentences were lighter than prosecutors’ demands of 14 years for each defendant.

The case forms part of a broader corruption investigation led by the Attorney General’s Office into alleged fuel blending practices that may have caused massive state losses.

In total, 18 suspects have been named in the wider case, accused of colluding to enrich themselves and causing state losses estimated at Rp 285.18 trillion ($17 billion).

One of the key suspects is oil tycoon Riza Chalid, who fled the country after the investigation began. His son, Muhammad Kerry Adrianto Riza, has also been named a suspect and is currently in detention.