TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named Thomas Trikasih Lembong or Tom Lembong as a suspect in the sugar import corruption case on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The determination of suspect status for Tom Lembong is related to his role during his tenure as Trade Minister from 2015-2016.

The AGO suspects Tom Lembong was involved in granting permissions for the import of 105,000 tons of raw crystal sugar. "Brother TTL is suspected of granting permission for the import of 105,000 tons of raw crystal sugar to PT AP, which was then processed into white crystal sugar," said the AGO's Director of Investigation Jampidsus Abdul Qohar.

Prior to being named a suspect by the AGO, Tom Lembong's name recently gained public attention. As a businessman and investor, he played an important role in supporting the candidates Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar in the 2024 presidential election.

Tom Lembong was appointed as Co-Captain of Team Anies-Muhaimin, under the command of Syaugi Alaydrus. Sharing roles with other figures such as Sudirman Said, Al Muzzammil Yusuf, Nihayatul Wafiroh, Azrul Tanjung, Nasirul Mahasin, Leontinys Alpha Edison, Yusuf Muhammad Martak, Ki KRT Lebdo Nagoro Anom Suroto, Jumhur Hidayat, Suyoto, and Maksum Faqih.

Tom Lembong is known to be close with Anies Baswedan. Before being appointed as Co-Captain of Team AMIN, Tom Lembong was appointed by Anies Baswedan, who was then Governor of Jakarta, as President Commissioner of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol Tbk.

Tom's tenure at PT Ancol ended after Anies' term ended in 2022. Tom Lembong was one of the officials removed from his position by the acting governor in February 2023.

However, Tom Lembong's closeness with Anies Baswedan continued. The man who was once an economic advisor and speechwriter for President Jokowi is rumored to have shifted his allegiance and become part of Anies' inner circle since 2020.

In the 2024 presidential election, Tom Lembong often accompanied Anies and Muhaimin at debates held by the General Election Commission. One of which was when attending the vice presidential debate on January 21, 2024 with the theme of sustainable development, natural resources, environment, energy, food, agrarian, indigenous communities, and villages.

A unique moment occurred when Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Vice Presidential candidate supported by the Coalition of Indonesia Forward or KIM mentioned Tom Lembong's name during one of the debate sessions with Muhaimin Iskandar alias Cak Imin.

When asking Cak Imin about lithium ferro phosphate (LFP), Gibran mentioned Tom Lembong's name for the first time. "I also will explain. LFP, lithium ferro phosphate, as I said earlier, is often advocated by Mr. Tom Lembong," said Gibran.

During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Tom Lembong often criticized President Jokowi's downstream policy. He believed that the current industrial downstream policy was not market-oriented.

Tom cited that in the future, electric cars are estimated to no longer use batteries made of nickel raw materials. He cited Tesla's production of electric cars by Elon Musk, which switched to using lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) batteries.

During the debate, Gibran suspected that Cak Imin was only reading scripts prepared by Tom Lembong. This suspicion was voiced by Gibran when Cak Imin asked a question.

"Maybe Gus Muhaimin also does not understand the question given to me. Maybe that's it, maybe might receive scripts from Mr. Tom Lembong, maybe yes," said Gibran during the vice presidential debate on Sunday, January 21, 2024.

Han Revanda Putra contributed to the writing of this article.

Editor's Choice: Former Trade Minister Tom Lembong Named as Suspect in Sugar Import Corruption

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