Indonesia's Attorney General Office said on Monday that it has raided companies linked to the coal tycoon Samin Tan after he was identified over the weekend as a suspect in alleged illegal mining activities.
Samin Tan is a once-influential deal-maker known for his $1 billion investment in Bumi Plc, which helped rescue Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family from a looming default.
The AGO said the contract of work for Tan's coal company, PT Asmin Koalindo Tuhup (AKT), was terminated in 2017, but the company allegedly continued mining operations up to 2025.
The case is the latest in Jakarta's crackdown against illegal mining after President Prabowo Subianto vowed to eradicate bad practices in the exploitation of Indonesia's natural resources.
Prosecutors have raided and seized a number of assets linked to AKT and Samin Tan, and have questioned more than 20 witnesses, AGO spokeperson Anang Supriatna told reporters on Monday.
"The raids and seizures are aimed at searching assets suspected of being related to, or are the proceeds of, crime," he said.
A government task force has previously seized nearly 1,700 hectares (4,200.79 acres) of the AKT mine in Central Kalimantan.
The AGO is currently calculating the losses to the state caused by the alleged crime, Anang said, and a government task force has imposed a 4.2 trillion rupiah ($247.20 million)administration fine on the company.
Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission named Tan as a suspect in a bribery case in 2019, but he was legally exonerated.
Tan's legal representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.
($1 = 16,990 rupiah)
