TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate of Certain Crimes (Dittipidter) at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) has arrested four suspects accused of misusing subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Karawang, West Java, and Semarang, Central Java. Police estimate the total loss to the state from the fraud in Semarang alone to be Rp5.6 billion.
Brigadier General Nunung Syaifuddin, director of the Dittipidter unit, explained that the Rp5.6 billion figure is based on the misuse of 155,634 subsidized LPG canisters in Semarang. The government subsidizes each 3-kilogram canister by Rp36,000, meaning the diverted canisters represent a substantial loss in public funds.
"That's not the amount of profit that they made but the value of subsidized goods that were meant for the public but were misappropriated," Nunung said during a press conference at the Bareskrim headquarters on Monday, May 5.
In the Karawang case, authorities estimate the suspect earned approximately Rp106 million per month through fraudulent practices. Nunung said the suspect there had been operating the gas transfer scheme for a year, pocketing a total of around Rp1.2 billion.
Nunung said that the four suspects are currently in custody. Three—identified as FZSW alias A, DS, and KKI—are tied to the Semarang operation, while the fourth, TN alias E, was arrested in Karawang. All of them are believed to be owners of official subsidized LPG distribution agencies.
"Typically, people buy subsidized gas from a registered base and then transfer it into non-subsidized canisters—but in these cases, it was the base operators themselves running the scheme," Nunung said.
Authorities seized 386 gas canisters in Karawang, including 254 subsidized 3-kg canisters, 38 non-subsidized 5.5-kg canisters, and 95 non-subsidized 12-kg canisters.
In Semarang, the police confiscated a far larger stash—4,109 canisters in total—comprising 20 of the 50-kg variety, 649 of the 12-kg, 95 of the 5.5-kg, and 3,346 of the subsidized 3-kg canisters.
Nunung added that the investigation is ongoing, with authorities looking into possible involvement from other parties beyond the four arrested. The suspects allegedly transferred gas from 3-kg subsidized canisters into larger, non-subsidized ones using tampered regulators.
They have been charged under Article 40 paragraph (9) of Law No. 6 of 2023 concerning the enactment of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation. "If convicted, they face a maximum prison sentence of six years and a fine of up to Rp60 billion," Nunung said.
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