The Consultant: Why did a palm oil conglomerate pay $22m to an unnamed ‘expert’ in Papua?

2020-06-25

MONAKWARI - This investigation examines a $22 million “consultancy fee” paid by one of the world’s largest palm oil conglomerates, the Korindo Group, in connection with the acquisition of a shell company that held permits to establish an oil palm plantation in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua.

According to experts we interviewed for the story, the payment bears the hallmarks of a common ruse in which sham consultants are used to channel millions of dollars to government officials in exchange for contracts or permits. While it is impossible, they noted, to tell if the payment funded bribery without using powers available only to government agencies, they said it warranted investigation by law enforcers.

We traveled to Papua on the trail of Kim Nam Ku, the man Korindo says received the consultancy payment in exchange for his shares in the company, and mapped out his career through interviews with former colleagues. Today, Korindo controls more land in Papua than any other conglomerate, and has assumed many of the functions of the state in one of Indonesia’s most neglected and militarized areas.

Korindo denies paying bribes and says its plantations have benefited the Papuan people.

The article was produced by Mongabay and The Gecko Project, in collaboration with the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism-Newstapa and 101 East, Al Jazeera’s Asia-Pacific current affairs programme.

Summary by The Gecko Project and Mongabay

Hans Nicholas Jong

Hans Nicholas Jong is a staff writer at the environmental news site Mongabay.

Febriana Firdaus

Febriana Firdaus is a freelance journalist based in Indonesia.

Jiyoon Kim

Jiyoon Kim is a reporter at the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ)-Newstapa.

Albertus Vembrianto

Albertus Vembrianto is a freelance photojournalist and visual storyteller who works mostly on independent projects in Papua, Indonesia.

Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson is the founder and editor of The Gecko Project, an investigative journalism initiative established to shine a light on the corruption driving land grabs and the destruction of tropical rainforests.