Indonesia
Attorney General’s Office (AGO) investigators escort former deputy head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sony Sonjaya to a prisoner transport vehicle on June 3 at the AGO headquarters in Jakarta. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
Disgraced former deputy chief of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sony Sonjaya has offered to cooperate with law enforcement as a justice collaborator and expose “powerful names” allegedly tied to corruption in the free meals program, fueling intensified calls for a comprehensive audit of the multitrillion-rupiah program.The Attorney General's Office (AGO) launched a probe last week into the agency responsible for the rollout of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals program and arrested Sony, former fellow deputy head Lodewyk Pusung and agency chief Dadan Hindayana as suspects hours after they were removed by the President.
Investigators say the three former officials approved ineligible foundations linked to agency insiders to run kitchens for the program through rigged selection processes and marked up the cost to procure unnecessary equipment, including electric motorcycles.
Through his lawyer Khrisna Murti, Sony, a former two-star police general, filed the application to be a justice collaborator with the AGO on Monday and promised to give them the identities of “prominent figures”, who allegedly played a larger role in the case.
