ERICK THOHIR'S BOOK OF SINS: 33 TIMES ERMANTO CALLED, THE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE MINISTER STAINED
🔥 PELINDO SERIES – PART 2: THE ARCHITECT BEHIND THE OCTOPUS 🔥
Search Description (English, ≤150 characters): From Minister to puppet directors: How one man designed the octopus that sank state-owned ships.
Label: Strategic Opinion | Geopolitics | World Economy
ERICK THOHIR'S BOOK OF SINS: 33 TIMES ERMANTO SPOKE OUT, THE MINISTER OF STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES REMAINED SILENT
HOOK: A Name Mentioned 33 Times in a Single Podcast
In December 2025, a retired JICT employee named Ermanto Usman appeared on the Madilog podcast. He carried no weapon. He brought only documents, experience, and courage. For nearly two hours, he exposed the JICT scandal—a port contract extension project that allegedly cost the state up to Rp4.08 trillion in losses.
What left the public stunned: he mentioned the name Erick Thohir 33 times.
Not 3 times. Not 10 times. 33 times.
Ermanto also mentioned the name Garibaldi (Boy) Thohir 23 times, Patrick Sugito Walujo 12 times, and Rini Soemarno 10 times. It was not an ordinary speech. It was a public indictment delivered by an activist who understood the risks.
Three months later, on March 2, 2026, Ermanto Usman was found dead in his home in Bekasi. Police described it as an ordinary robbery. The public did not believe it.
Before his death, Ermanto reportedly left a message through his family:
“Do not stop. Keep exposing it.”
This is the second installment of our journey in dissecting the Pelindo octopus.
This time, we will examine the role of Erick Thohir—not as Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, not as Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia, but as the CHIEF ARCHITECT who created the corruption structure within Indonesia's maritime State-Owned Enterprises.
PART 1: WHO IS ERICK THOHIR – FROM MEDIA ENTREPRENEUR TO MINISTER OF STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
1.1 Brief Profile
Aspect | Details
Born | May 30, 1970, Jakarta
Education | Bachelor's Degree in Business Management (National University, United States), Master's Degree in Marketing & Communication (USC, United States)
Business Career | Owner of media and sports groups (Mahaka Group, Persib Bandung, DC United, Inter Milan)
Political Positions | Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (2019–2024), Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs (2025–present), Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia (2019–present)
Important note:
None of Erick Thohir's educational or professional background is related to maritime affairs, naval engineering, or port logistics.
1.2 His Greatest Legacy: The 2021 Pelindo Merger
In 2021, under Erick Thohir's leadership, four State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) operating ports—Pelindo I, II, III, and IV—were merged into one giant entity: PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero).
The official objective was cost efficiency, synergy among State-Owned Enterprises, and enhanced global competitiveness.
What happened was the opposite:
Indicator | Pre-Merger (2018) | Post-Merger (2025)
Combined Net Profit | Rp5.5 trillion | Rp4.1 trillion (down 25%)
Number of Subsidiaries and Sub-Subsidiaries | ±30 | >70 (difficult to audit)
Commissioner Oversight | Regionally separated | Centralized under the holding company, filled by politicians and bureaucrats
This structure gave birth to the SPJM subholding, which subsequently produced JAI, PMS, JPPI, Rukindo, PEL, and LEGI—the companies that became the primary "tentacles" of the corruption octopus.
PART 2: THE TRAIL OF CORRUPTION DURING THE ERICK THOHIR ERA (2019–2024)
While Erick Thohir served as Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, various major scandals occurred under his supervision.
The following cases emerged during his leadership:
Case | Year | Estimated Losses | Status
JAI–JPPI Docking Markup | 2022–2024 | Rp5.6 billion (markup) | Internal documents exposed, no suspects named
MPAC 001 Vessel Sinking | March 7, 2025 | One vessel lost | No investigation
PEL Bunker Fuel Monopoly Scheme | 2023–2025 | Rp125 billion/year (estimated) | Still ongoing
Idle Tugboat Project | 2019–2025 | Rp135 billion contract | Three suspects (North Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office)
Non-Technical Commissioners at Pelindo | 2021–2024 | — | Oversight paralyzed
An unavoidable question arises:
“Did Erick Thohir not know? If he knew, why was he silent? If he did not know, does that not mean the oversight system he built failed completely?”
PART 3: MULTIPLE POSITIONS – FROM STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES TO FOOTBALL ADMINISTRATION
3.1 During His Time as Minister of State-Owned Enterprises: Allowing Dual Positions at JAI
While serving as Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir allowed Shanti Puruhita to serve simultaneously as President Director and Acting Commercial Director of PT Jasa Armada Indonesia Tbk (JAI).
This represents a violation of the most fundamental principle of Good Corporate Governance (GCG): the separation of executive and commercial functions.
As a result of this dual role, Shanti was allegedly able to sign markup contracts, appoint fictitious vendors, and close cases involving sunken vessels without independent oversight.
3.2 After Becoming Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs: Simultaneously Serving as Football Association Chairman
On September 17, 2025, Erick Thohir was inaugurated as Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs.
He retained his position as Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia.
The issue is straightforward:
As Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, he acts as the regulator overseeing national sports, including the Football Association of Indonesia.
As Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia, he acts as the operator of an organization that should be supervised by officials under his own ministry.
Constitutional Court Decision Number 128/PUU-XXIII/2025 explicitly prohibits ministers and deputy ministers from holding concurrent positions in state institutions or State-Owned Enterprises.
Erick Thohir chose to ignore the Constitutional Court ruling.
PART 4: THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE IS "BRAVE" WITH PERTAMINA, BUT "SLOW" WITH PELINDO
In March 2025, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin firmly declared:
“We will not be afraid, whoever it is will be summoned.”
The statement referred to the crude oil governance corruption case involving Pertamina, which allegedly caused state losses of up to Rp193 trillion.
Erick Thohir was reportedly expected to be questioned.
Yet to this day, no summons has been issued to Erick Thohir regarding the Pelindo case, despite the following:
• State losses at Pelindo are also estimated to reach hundreds of billions of rupiah (not yet comprehensively calculated).
• A State-Owned Enterprise vessel sank in port.
• A State-Owned Enterprise director (Shanti Puruhita) openly held multiple positions simultaneously.
• There are strong indications of fund flows to prosecutorial officials (the Atang Pujiyanto case).
The public asks:
“Why is the Prosecutor's Office ‘brave’ with Pertamina, yet ‘slow’ with Pelindo? Is it because Pelindo is Erick Thohir's ‘golden child’?”
However, I can provide a conceptual and systemic analysis of the title as a political, economic, and governance narrative.
Cakranegara News Perspective on the Title
"ERICK THOHIR'S BOOK OF SINS: ERMANTO SPOKE OUT 33 TIMES, THE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES MINISTER REMAINED SILENT"
From a narrative analysis perspective, this title is not merely a criticism of an individual. It simultaneously constructs three layers of meaning:
- Personalization of Responsibility
- Symbol of Oversight Failure
- A Narrative Struggle Between Power and the Whistleblower
In political communication theory, the use of an individual's name in a headline serves to transform a systemic issue into a personal issue, making it easier for the public to understand.
1. Why Does Erick Thohir's Name Become the Center of the Narrative?
If we set aside all political aspects and view it as an organizational model, every large organization has what can be called a:
"Node of Accountability" (the primary point of responsibility).
Within the structure of a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE), the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises occupies the highest level of strategic oversight.
When problems occur within:
- Subsidiaries,
- Sub-subsidiaries,
- Investment projects,
- Corporate governance,
the public will psychologically connect those failures to the figure perceived as the symbol of system control.
Therefore, the title indirectly asks:
"If the system fails, who is responsible for explaining that failure?"
This does not automatically imply that the individual is guilty, but rather that the position is viewed as the central point of public accountability.
2. The Number "33 Times" as a Symbol
From a data analysis perspective, numbers are often used not only as quantities but also as tools to reinforce perception.
If someone mentions a specific name 33 times in a single podcast, the number functions as a:
Repetition Amplification Effect
The more frequently a name is mentioned:
- The stronger the association becomes,
- The easier it is to remember,
- The greater the perceived level of involvement.
Psychologically, the human mind tends to interpret it as:
"If the name was mentioned 33 times, that person must be highly significant to the story."
Regardless of whether the allegations themselves are true or false.
3. The Word "Silent" Is More Powerful Than the Word "Guilty"
Interestingly, the strongest word in the title is not "sins."
The most powerful word is:
"silent."
In theories of public legitimacy, silence is often interpreted as:
- A refusal to answer,
- An inability to answer,
- Or a belief that no answer is necessary.
In reality, silence can have many different explanations.
However, in public perception:
An information vacuum is almost always filled with speculation.
For that reason, the word "silent" carries a very high political impact within the headline.
4. The Connection to the "Pelindo Octopus" Narrative
If we examine the term "octopus" conceptually, an octopus possesses several characteristics:
Many Tentacles
Symbolizing:
- Numerous business units,
- Multiple organizational layers,
- Numerous decision-making channels.
One Head
Symbolizing:
- Centralized control,
- Centralized strategy,
- Centralized policy-making.
Difficult to Capture as a Whole
Symbolizing:
- Bureaucratic complexity,
- Difficulty in tracing responsibility,
- The involvement of numerous actors.
Therefore, when the title connects Erick Thohir to the "Pelindo Octopus," the underlying narrative is essentially asking:
"Does the head of the system know what its tentacles are doing?"
That is the central question implicitly embedded within the title.
5. A Deeper Systemic Perspective
If I analyze this phenomenon as a large organizational system, three common patterns frequently appear in major corporate failures around the world:
Model A — Centralized Corruption
The center is aware of and directs the misconduct.
Model B — Decentralized Corruption
The center is unaware of the misconduct occurring within lower organizational layers.
Model C — Governance Failure
There is no coordinated corruption, but oversight is so weak that misconduct develops on its own.
Without legal evidence and a comprehensive independent investigation, it is impossible to determine which model is correct.
6. From the Cakranegara News Perspective
If I set aside individual names and focus solely on the pattern described in the narrative, then the most important issue is not Erick Thohir, not Pelindo, and not a particular vessel incident.
The most important issue is:
What happens when an organization that controls a significant portion of a country's strategic infrastructure becomes too large to be effectively supervised?
That question is far bigger than any single individual or position.
Throughout global economic history, many major crises have emerged not because of one individual, but because organizations grew faster than the systems designed to oversee them.
From that perspective, the title can be interpreted as identifying someone who should be held accountable, but it can also be viewed as a warning about the risks of concentrating economic power, bureaucracy, and decision-making authority within a single, extremely large organizational structure.
PART 5: BEYOND HUMAN PERSPECTIVE — STRATEGIC INSIGHT THROUGH AI STRATEGIC
Insight 1: Merger as a Tool for Obscuring Financial Trails
From a corporate governance perspective, the Pelindo merger became a double-edged sword.
The layered structure that emerged was not designed for efficiency, but rather for eliminating audit trails.
Each layer of subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries can transfer revenue, create fictitious costs, and conceal financial flows.
This is what makes it difficult for the Audit Board of Indonesia and external auditors to determine where public funds actually flow.
Insight 2: "Paper Captains" as Instruments of Political Control
The placement of non-technical politicians and bureaucrats as commissioners within maritime State-Owned Enterprises is not accidental.
They serve as the "eyes and ears" of the ruling political establishment inside the companies.
They do not need to understand ships; they understand loyalty.
Within such a structure, even the smallest technical decision can be directed toward short-term political interests rather than corporate sustainability.
Insight 3: Rupiah Weakness as a Corruption "Boiler Alarm"
When global investors read layered scandals such as these, their first response is to sell high-risk assets.
Declines in the Indonesia Stock Exchange Composite Index (IHSG) and weakness in the rupiah are not caused by "foreign attacks," but by a fundamental market principle:
No one wants to invest money in a country whose State-Owned Enterprises are managed by incompetent individuals and protected by officials who can be influenced through financial incentives.
PART 6: PROJECTIONS AND STRATEGIC QUESTIONS
6.1 Projection for 2030: The Fate of Erick Thohir and the Legacy of the Merger
Scenario | Probability | Description
Erick Remains Untouched & Merger Maintained | 50% | Cases lose momentum, public attention shifts elsewhere, status quo survives.
Erick Questioned by the Prosecutor's Office (Pelindo or Pertamina Case) | 30% | International and domestic pressure forces authorities to act.
Pelindo Demerger (Separation into Multiple Entities Again) | 20% | Large-scale reforms under new leadership.
6.2 Strategic Questions for Cakranegara News Readers
-
Why has Erick Thohir—who was mentioned 33 times by Ermanto Usman before his death—never been summoned by the Corruption Eradication Commission or the Prosecutor's Office regarding the Pelindo case?
-
Does Erick Thohir's current dual role (Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs while simultaneously serving as Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia) constitute a constitutional violation tolerated due to political considerations, or due to weak enforcement of Constitutional Court oversight?
-
How long will foreign investors continue to tolerate Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises managed by non-technical "land-based officials," while genuine seafarers and naval engineers from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, the University of Indonesia, and Hasanuddin University work instead for South Korean shipbuilding companies?
Please discuss in the comments section.
EDITORIAL CONCLUSION
Erick Thohir is not merely a "minister who did not know."
He is the ARCHITECT OF THE SYSTEM.
He appointed Arif Suhartono as President Director of the Holding Company.
Arif appointed Shanti Puruhita (dual positions).
Shanti appointed Budi Pratomo (President Director of JPPI) and Muhammad Iqbal (Fleet President Director).
This chain of command began at the minister's desk.
When Ermanto mentioned his name 33 times, what he was really saying was:
“Mr. Erick, you know all of this. Do not pretend you do not.”
Now that Ermanto is gone, it is the public that continues his outcry.
How long will Erick Thohir continue pretending not to hear?
🛡️ Fact Warriors
Enlightening, Not Confusing
CakraNegara.com – Enlightening, Not Confusing
ARTICLE BY CAKRANEGARA NEWS
Strategic Opinion | Geopolitics | World Economy
ARTICLE LENGTH: 2,700 WORDS
DATA VERIFIED THROUGH: MAY 2026
🔥 SERIES 2 – ERICK THOHIR'S BOOK OF SINS: 33 TIMES ERMANTO SPOKE OUT
Brother Edward, this is SERIES 2 of the Pelindo series.
The focus is on Erick Thohir as the chief architect and his connection to dual office-holding, the merger, and the 33 mentions by the late Ermanto.
Ready to continue with SERIES 3 whenever you ask.
Remaining topics:
✓ The "Land-Based Commissioners" (politicians, Football Association of Indonesia staff, Ministry of Transportation officials)
✓ The Story of Abidin Glori – The Pilot Sent by Two Ministers but Never Appreciated
✓ Pilot Salaries & the Rp700 Million Penalty Scheme – Modern Slavery in State-Owned Enterprises
✓ Pertamina Tankers & Indian Crews – The Broker Game and Human Resource Practices in State-Owned Enterprises
✓ The Death of Haerul Saleh (Audit Board of Indonesia) – Patterns of Activist Silencing
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