Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday laid out what it described as the operational “modus” behind a corruption scheme inside the National Nutrition Agency, implicating its chief, Dadan Hindayana, and two senior officials in a widening investigation into the management of the government’s Free Nutritious Meals program.
The case, which centers on alleged irregularities in procurement and the selection of implementing partners, has become one of the most closely watched corruption investigations involving a major public welfare initiative under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, director of investigations at the Special Crimes Division of the Attorney General’s Office, said prosecutors had identified at least two primary methods used in the alleged scheme. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he described a system in which foundations assigned to partner with schools under the MBG program were allegedly manipulated and used as vehicles for illicit financial gain.
According to Syarief, the Free Nutritious Meals program was designed to be implemented through independent foundations at the school level, which would act as partners in the distribution and preparation of meals under the Satuan Pelayanan Pemenuhan Gizi, or SPPG, framework.
However, in practice, he said, many of the foundations appointed as SPPG partners were not independent entities but were instead allegedly affiliated with officials or employees within the National Nutrition Agency who did not meet eligibility requirements.
“However, in reality, the foundations designated as SPPG partners were used as instruments of crime and were affiliated with officials or employees of the National Nutrition Agency who did not qualify to become SPPG partners,” Syarief said.
Investigators allege that these appointments were not the result of transparent selection procedures. Instead, they were influenced through internal intervention in the verification process on the agency’s official partner portal.
Syarief said that senior officials, including Mr. Dadan and Sonny Sanjaya, who served as deputy head for operational nutrition fulfillment between September 2025 and July 2026, were involved in exerting influence over the system used to approve partner foundations.
Another senior official, retired Major General Lodewyk Pusung, who served as deputy head for organizational development and institutional support between October 2024 and July 2026, was also named in connection with the case.
According to investigators, foundations linked to the three officials allegedly received substantial financial benefits, generating incentives worth billions of rupiah per day and potentially trillions of rupiah annually, depending on program scale and operational rollout.
The Attorney General’s Office said this structure created an ecosystem in which affiliated foundations benefited disproportionately from state-funded contracts tied to the Free Nutritious Meals program.
Beyond the alleged manipulation of foundation partnerships, prosecutors also outlined a second major component of the corruption scheme involving procurement practices within the National Nutrition Agency.
Syarief said that procurement processes for goods and services were allegedly conducted unlawfully through direct interference in the work of government procurement officials, known as Pejabat Pembuat Komitmen, or PPK.
He said that this interference affected the preparation of procurement documents, including the Terms of Reference, or Kerangka Acuan Kerja (KAK), resulting in specifications that did not reflect actual field requirements.
As a result, investigators allege that procurement packages were designed in ways that enabled inflated pricing, or markups, leading to inefficient use of public funds and financial losses to the state.
Among the procurement items under scrutiny is a large-scale purchase of electric motorcycles. Authorities said 21,801 units were procured at a total value of approximately 1.03 trillion rupiah (about $63 million), with payments made to PT YAT, a supplier investigators claim did not meet eligibility requirements.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the company lacked active dealerships or service workshops, raising questions about its capacity to fulfill such a large government contract. Investigators also allege that the procurement price was significantly inflated above market value.
Additional procurement items under investigation include 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablet devices, and 5,400 75-inch televisions. In each case, prosecutors allege irregularities in procurement procedures and evidence of price inflation inconsistent with standard government purchasing protocols.
“These acts in the corruption case related to the management of the Free Nutritious Meals program at the National Nutrition Agency for 2025–2026 have resulted in state financial losses,” Syarief said.
While authorities did not immediately disclose the total estimated loss to the state, officials indicated that the investigation is ongoing and may expand as auditors and forensic accountants continue to review procurement records, digital communications, and financial flows linked to the program.
The suspects, including Mr. Dadan, Sonny Sanjaya, and Mr. Lodewyk, have been charged under multiple provisions of Indonesia’s updated criminal code as well as the country’s anti-corruption laws.
Prosecutors said the primary charges fall under Article 603 in conjunction with Article 20 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, alongside Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption, as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001.
Subsidiary charges include Article 604 and related provisions under the same legal framework.
Legal experts note that the combination of charges allows prosecutors to pursue both principal and alternative legal theories, depending on how evidence is assessed during trial proceedings.
Following their designation as suspects, the three officials were detained for an initial 20-day period. They are being held at Salemba Detention Center, with Mr. Dadan and one of the deputies placed in a facility managed by the Attorney General’s Office and another held at a separate facility under the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office.
The Attorney General’s Office said the detention is necessary to prevent potential interference with evidence and witness testimony as the investigation continues.
The case has intensified scrutiny of the Free Nutritious Meals program, a flagship initiative designed to improve child nutrition and expand access to food assistance across Indonesia’s vast and geographically diverse population.
Supporters of the program argue that it addresses long-standing disparities in child health outcomes and represents a major investment in human capital development.
However, the allegations have raised broader concerns about governance, procurement oversight, and the vulnerability of large-scale social programs to systemic corruption risks.
As investigators continue to map financial flows and institutional decision-making processes, the case is expected to remain a focal point in Indonesia’s ongoing anti-corruption efforts.
For now, the Attorney General’s Office has signaled that further details may emerge as evidence is consolidated and additional suspects could potentially be identified.
