Interpol has issued a red notice for the arrest of Indonesian oil tycoon Mohammad Riza Chalid, a powerful businessman nicknamed the “gasoline godfather,” over his alleged role in a corruption scandal estimated to have cost the country $17 billion.
Police said late on Sunday that the notice was issued on January 23 at Indonesia’s request, seeking help from law enforcement agencies in 196 countries to locate and provisionally arrest the 66-year-old.
Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Interpol’s Indonesia National Central Bureau, said authorities have an idea of Chalid’s whereabouts but declined to provide details.
Chalid is wanted for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned energy firm Pertamina between 2018 and 2023, including accusations of money laundering and manipulating a lease agreement.
In July, prosecutors named Chalid, his son Muhammad Kerry Adrianto Riza, and several senior Pertamina officials as suspects in the case.
Investigators say the group worked together to import crude oil from overseas suppliers at inflated prices instead of sourcing it domestically, as required by Indonesian law.
Indonesia’s immigration office revoked Chalid’s passport in October, further tightening the net around the fugitive tycoon.
The case underscores Indonesia’s long-running battle with corruption, which has ensnared numerous senior officials and business figures. In 2023, a former communications minister was sentenced to 15 years in prison over a corruption case that investigators said caused more than $530 million in losses to the state.
