JAKARTA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian authorities said Thursday that they had intensified a search for the owner of palm oil corporation PT Duta Palma Group, Surya Darmadi, a suspect in an alleged corruption scandal estimated to have caused state losses of 78 trillion rupiahs (5.3 billion U.S. dollars), the largest amount in the country's history.
As the latest move, Indonesia's Attorney General's Office (AGO) asked the immigration authorities on Thursday to ban Darmadi from going abroad, despite the uncertainty of whether he was currently in Indonesia or not.
"We've already received the request from the AGO. The ban is valid up to six months ahead," Director of Supervision and Enforcement of Indonesia's Immigration Office I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram said in a press release.
Darmadi has been on the most-wanted list of the country's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) since 2019. He has been named suspect for accepting bribery related to a land use change of a 37,095-hectare oil palm land in Riau province that belonged to his company. ■