Former Operations And Production Director Of PT Timah, Alwin Albar, Has Been Charged With Contributing To A State Loss Amounting To 300 Trillion Rupiah

KOMPAS.com/Syakirun Ni'am

Former Operations And Production Director Of PT Timah, Alwin Albar, Has Been Charged With Contributing To A State Loss Amounting To 300 Trillion Rupiah

Thursday, 02 Jan 2025

The Operations and Production Director of PT Timah Tbk for the period of 2017-2020, Alwin Albar, has been charged with participating in corruption related to the tin commodity trade, resulting in a loss to the state amounting to Rp 300 trillion. Alwin is identified as one of the officials implicated in the trial alongside the former President Director of PT Timah Tbk, Mochtar Riza Pahlevi Tabrani, and the former Finance Director, Emil Ermindra, in connection with corrupt activities. The public prosecutor indicated that Alwin, along with his two superiors, issued policies for collaboration between PT Timah and several companies holding mining service business licenses (IUJP) or partners involved in mining operations.

The prosecutor stated, “(The IUJP holders) were known to engage in illegal mining and/or to store the results of illegal mining within the mining permit area of PT Timah Tbk,” during the proceedings at the Jakarta Central Corruption Court on Monday (30/12/2024). It was noted that Alwin, Riza, and Emil collectively facilitated payments to various companies, disguising these transactions as costs for mining service operations.

These payments were made based on the quantity of tin ore produced by illegal miners, aligned with market prices at the time of the transaction.

This implies that PT Timah was effectively purchasing tin ore from illegal miners operating within their own mining permit area (IUP). The three individuals also implemented an asset security program. “In practice, PT Timah Tbk acquired tin ore from illegal miners operating in the IUP area of PT Timah Tbk,” the prosecutor remarked.

Additionally, they disbursed 5 percent of the tin ore calculated from the export quotas of several private smelters that illegally sourced tin ore from PT Timah Tbk's IUP. The companies involved included PT Refined Bangka Tin, PT Venus Inti Perkasa, PT Stanindo Inti Perkasa, PT Tinindo Internusa, and PT Sariwiguna Binasentosa. Furthermore, they entered into cooperation agreements for the rental of processing equipment with these five companies.