Roy Adriansyah, Arnoldus Kristianus, Monique Handa Shafira, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named Isa Rachmatarwata, the Director General of Budget at the Finance Ministry, a suspect in the corruption case involving the financial management and investment funds of state insurer Asuransi Jiwasraya.
Director of Investigations at the AGO's Special Crimes Unit, Abdul Qohar, announced the development during a press conference on Friday. Isa is accused of causing state financial losses during his tenure as Head of Insurance at the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) from 2006 to 2012.
"Investigators have found sufficient evidence of criminal acts committed by IR, who now serves as Director General of Budget at the Finance Ministry," Qohar said.
The corruption case stems from Isa's role in developing and marketing Jiwasraya's "Saving Plan" program, which reportedly caused significant financial losses for the insurance firm. The investigation revealed that Isa's alleged actions contributed to state losses totaling Rp 16.8 trillion ($1 billion). The losses were linked to irregularities in Jiwasraya's financial recovery and investment programs between 2008 and 2018.
For investigative purposes, Isa has been detained at the Salemba Detention Center of the AGO for 20 days.
The Finance Ministry stated its commitment to respecting the ongoing legal process.
"We respect the ongoing legal proceedings," the ministry's spokesman Deni Surjantoro, said on Friday, without providing further details about Isa's case or the appointment of his replacement.
A landmark corruption case
The Jiwasraya scandal has been described as one of Indonesia's largest financial scandals and a landmark in the country's fight against corruption. It marked the first time in Indonesian judicial history that multiple defendants received life sentences in the same corruption case.
Prominent stockbroker Benny Tjokrosaputro, the former president director of Hanson International, and his key accomplice, Heru Hidayat, the chief commissioner of Trada Alam Mineral, were sentenced to life imprisonment for orchestrating market manipulations that misled Jiwasraya into poor investments. Their actions caused state financial losses totaling Rp 16.81 trillion.
In addition to Benny and Heru, four other defendants – former Jiwasraya president Hendrisman Rahim, former finance director Hary Prasetyo, former investment and finance division head Syahmirwan, and Maxima Integra director Joko Hartono Tirto – were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Isa's career profile
Isa began his career at the Finance Ministry in 1991, overseeing pension fund supervision. He later served as Chair of the Government Guarantee Program Implementation Team after the dissolution of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency in 2004.
In 2006, Isa was appointed Head of the Insurance Bureau at Bapepam-LK. After the agency merged into the Financial Services Authority (OJK), he joined the Fiscal Policy Agency in 2013. He was later appointed Director General of State Assets in 2017 and became Director General of Budget in 2021, responsible for managing the nation's financial policies.
The Jiwasraya case marked the first time in the Indonesian justice system that multiple defendants were sentenced to life in the same corruption case.