In 2022, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that they had commenced investigation into allegations of corruption at the root of the problem which caused the cooking oil shortage and price surcharge. By May of the same year, the AGO had named several suspects, then the President decided to dismiss the Minister of Trade, M Lutfi, after serving for less than two years. Trial of the defendants started soon after and they were found guilty several months later. In the midst of all that, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) announced that it had escalated the investigation on alleged cartel-like practices in the cooking oil industry into the next phase and officially will examine 27 companies in Assembly hearings. The hearings start in October 2022 and this week, the examination stage is finally over. The KPPU decided that the allegation on cartel-like practices cannot be proven, however, seven companies were deemed responsible for the shortage and punished to pay over Rp70 billion in fines. To subscribe please click here
