JAKARTA. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) banned seven suspects in a corruption case that has implicated US-based energy company PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia from traveling outside the country.

The suspects comprised five executives of Chevron and two executives of contractor companies, PT Green Planet Indonesia and PT Sumigita Jaya, which carried out Chevron’s environmental remediation project allegedly causing US$270 million in state losses.

AGO spokesman Ado Toegarisman said that the measure was taken because his office needed the suspects’ testimony.

“The travel ban request will be sent to the Immigration Directorate,” he said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Wednesday.

Chevron’s vice president for government policy and public affairs, Yanto Sianipar, said that his company had yet to receive information regarding the travel ban, however, “We will comply with the ruling,” Yanto said.

The AGO accused the company of appointing unqualified companies to carry out the project between 2003 and 2011 and considered the project fictitious. Chevron, however, dismissed the allegations, saying that the company had complied with the government’s regulation in every process of the project and had submitted the project report and evaluation to upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas and the Environment Ministry. (The Jakarta Post)

Editor: Edy Can