Indonesia imposes record $117M stock trading fines linked to billionaire Widjaja family, Prajogo Pangestu

Indonesia's financial regulator, OJK, has imposed record fines totaling $117 million linked to the Widjaja family, according to Reuters. The fines target trading activities in Dian Swastatika Sentosa, a mining and energy group controlled by the Widjaja family, valued at $28.3 billion. Two other companies implicated are Barito Renewables Energy and Petrindo Jaya Kreasi, both under the control of energy tycoon Prajogo Pangestu, whose wealth stands at $12.6 billion.

OJK's chair, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, revealed that the largest fine is 1.5 trillion rupiah, imposed on a firm named SMT for market manipulation of Dian Swastatika shares leading to a significant price surge. AH Ltd was fined 500 billion rupiah for hiding information during the IPO of Barito Renewables, and TC Pte Ltd received 100 billion rupiah for a similar violation concerning Petrindo's IPO.

Companies associated with the Widjaja and Pangestu families concealed their ties and acquired a significant share of stocks prior to their IPOs, reducing the available shares in the market. Both Dian Swastatika and the two other companies have acknowledged OJK's enforcement and commitment to complying with the rules. These penalties are part of broader capital market reforms following a warning from Morgan Stanley Capital International that Indonesia might be demoted from emerging to standalone market status due to insufficient efforts to curb coordinated trading practices.

President Prabowo Subianto dismissed the warning, asserting that Indonesia would not be cajoled by external entities and vowed to resist any intimidation.