Indonesian oil tycoon Riza Chalid, who is a suspect in a corruption case related to fuel imports, is believed to be in Malaysia, the republic’s authorities revealed.
Indonesia’s directorate general of immigration at the law and human rights ministry said they are coordinating with immigration officials in Malaysia to confirm Riza’s whereabouts, the Indonesian weekly, Tempo, reported.
Acting Indonesian immigration director-general Yuldi Yusman said since Riza left the country, he “has not returned to Indonesian territory” .
“His whereabouts are suspected to be in Malaysia at the moment,” he was quoted as saying.
Yuldi was earlier quoted by Tempo as saying that immigration records show Riza has been in Malaysia since Feb 6 after departing from Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
On Saturday, The Jakarta Post reported that Riza was named as a suspect in a corruption case linked to fuel imports at subsidiaries of Pertamina, the state-owned oil and gas giant, which registered trillions in losses.
Indonesian investigators said they found enough evidence to name the businessman a suspect in their probe which has seen seven people arrested, including Riza’s son, Kerry Adrianto.
It was previously reported that the director of investigation at the attorney-general’s office in Indonesia, Abdul Qohar, said Riza, who remains on the wanted list, could be in Singapore.
However, Yuldi confirmed this afternoon that Riza is not currently in Singapore.
