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Agence France-Presse

Interpol issued a red notice for the arrest of one of Indonesia’s biggest oil tycoons over a US$285 million corruption scandal, police said late on Sunday.
Mohammad Riza Chalid, 66, nicknamed the “gasoline godfather”, is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina between 2018 and 2023, including for money laundering and manipulating a lease agreement.
Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Interpol’s Indonesia National Central Bureau, said a red notice had been issued by Interpol on January 23.
“We can confirm that the individual is currently in an Interpol member country, and his location has been mapped and placed under surveillance. Our team is currently in the country concerned,” he said, as reported by Antara news agency.
A red notice is a “request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action”, according to Interpol. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country.
The notice was sent to Interpol’s 196 member countries to request law enforcement worldwide to help locate and provisionally arrest Riza.
In July, Riza, his son, Muhammad Kerry Adrianto Riza, and several of Pertamina’s high-ranking officials were named in the corruption case.
They are accused of working together to import crude oil from overseas suppliers at higher prices rather than source it domestically as mandated by Indonesian law, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The Attorney General’s Office had already seized several of his assets, including luxury cars, properties and 833 million rupiah (US$49,500) in cash, the Jakarta Globe newspaper reported.
Riza’s Indonesian passport was revoked in October, according to the country’s immigration office.
Apart from Riza, Interpol was also processing a red notice for Jurist Tan, a former special staff member to ex-education minister Nadiem Makarim, Kompas newspaper reported.
Tan is a suspect in an alleged 9.3 trillion rupiah corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks for the ministry between 2020 and 2022, according to the Jakarta Globe. He is recorded as having left Indonesia for Singapore on May 13, last year.
“For the prospective Interpol red notice subject [Jurist Tan], we have also mapped the location of the person concerned. The red notice is currently being processed. We will just have to wait and see in the near future. And of course, we have followed up and conducted an assessment and review of the person concerned,” Untung told Kompas.
Indonesia has long struggled with corruption and has arrested scores of public officials in recent years.
In 2023, a former communications minister was jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of corruption in a case that investigators said cost the country more than US$530 million.
Additional reporting by SCMP’s Asia desk


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Mohammad Riza Chalid is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina


Mohammad Riza Chalid is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina.


Interpol issues red notice for Indonesian oil tycoon in US$285 million corruption scandal

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Mohammad Riza Chalid is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina

Mohammad Riza Chalid is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina