Govt crackdown on illegal mining puts Samin Tan back in legal trouble

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has detained Samin Tan as a suspect in a graft case implicating several officials in the alleged illegal mining activities conducted by PT Asmin Koalindo Tuhup (PT AKT), of which Samin is a beneficial owner. This is not the first time the coal tycoon has faced legal trouble in a case implicating public servants, and the latest case comes amid President Prabowo Subianto’s broader crackdown on illegal mining. Meanwhile, the legal process also highlights the growing reach of the extrajudicial authority of the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH).

Samin was named as a suspect on March 28 in a case pertaining to PT AKT’s illicit mining activities, which prosecutors say were enabled by corrupt officials. He has been charged under several provisions of Law No. 1/2023 on the Criminal Code and Law No. 31/1999 on corruption eradication, including articles related to corporate liability and illicit enrichment.

Nearly a decade earlier, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry revoked PT AKT’s coal mining concession work agreement (PKP2B) for a 21,630-hectare mine in Murung Raya regency, Central Kalimantan, on Oct. 19, 2017. The decision came after parent company PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal (BLEM) received three warnings over allegations that it had used PT AKT’s concession to secure a loan from Standard Chartered Bank. Legal challenges by PT AKT failed, and courts rejected the company’s final appeal in 2018.

In a previous case, Samin sought help from Golkar Party lawmaker Melchias Marcus Mekeng and ex-Golkar legislator Eni Maulani Saragih regarding issues related to PT AKT’s PKP2B. In return, Eni requested funding support for her husband’s election bid for regent of Temanggung, Central Java, and Samin transferred Rp 5 billion (US$288,370). This led to his subsequent arrest by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in connection with Eni’s bribery case. He was acquitted in that case after the Supreme Court ultimately rejected the KPK’s appeal against a lower court’s decision.

In December 2025, Satgas PKH found that PT AKT had continued mining 1,699 hectares of its former concession area and imposed an administrative fine of Rp 4.24 trillion. Article 110B of Law No. 6/2023 stipulates administrative sanctions, including fines, against unlicensed business activities conducted in forest areas prior to Nov. 2, 2020. Samin later asked that he be allowed to pay a reduced fine in five installments through February 2027 and had paid $7 billion and Rp 100 billion as of March 2 before he was arrested in the latest case.

Authorities named three additional suspects on April 23: harbormaster and port authority head Handry Sulfian, who allegedly received bribes to approve coal shipments linked to Samin’s companies, including PT Mantimin Coal Mining; PT AKT director Bagus Jaya Wardhana for allegedly overseeing mining and exports using another company’s documentation; and PT OOWL Indonesia general manager Helmi Zaidan Mauludin, who allegedly helped produce necessary certificates and verification reports.

Samin’s lawyer Dodi S. Abdulkadir said on March 31 that his client had been arrested without receiving formal summons, although Satgas PKH had submitted the relevant case files to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes in January. Independent findings based on 4.7-meter resolution satellite imagery by Tempo and environmental NGO Auriga Nusantara estimated that 184 hectares of forest had been converted into mines, significantly lower than the figures provided by Satgas PKH.

Samin’s arrest may underscore Satgas PKH’s readiness to enforce compliance through coercive measures. The multiagency task force, which includes personnel from the AGO, the National Police, the Forestry Ministry and the Indonesian Military, said as of early 2026, it had detected 8.8 million hectares where 75 miners were conducting illegal activities. Its reliance on administrative sanctions signals a preference for swift enforcement.

While Samin’s arrest reflects the government’s taking decisive action against illegal mining, it also underscores a need for transparency and sound legal processes to avoid a repeat of his acquittal in the KPK’s Eni bribery case. At the same time, Satgas PKH’s emphasis on extrajudicial fines risks their potential abuse as unintended incentives, particularly in cases where forest concessions are reclaimed and then transferred to state-owned enterprises. The ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining should serve as a foundation for structural reform rather than merely to channel additional state revenue.