JAKARTA: Interpol issued a red notice for the arrest of one of Indonesia’s biggest oil tycoons over a US$17 billion corruption scandal, authorities said.

Mohammad Riza Chalid, nicknamed the "gasoline godfather", is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina between 2018 and 2023, including money laundering and manipulating a lease agreement.

Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Interpol’s Indonesia National Central Bureau, said late on Sunday (Feb 1) that a red notice had been issued by Interpol on Jan 23.

"We can’t specify exactly where he is, but we already know," he said.

The notice was sent to Interpol’s 196 member countries to request law enforcement worldwide help locate and provisionally arrest 66-year-old Riza.

In July, Riza, his son, Muhammad Kerry Adrianto Riza and several of Pertamina’s high-ranking officials were named in the corruption case.

They are accused of working together to import crude oil from overseas suppliers at higher prices rather than source it domestically as mandated by Indonesian law, according to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

The AGO estimates the corruption at 285 trillion rupiah (around US$17 billion) and said 18 people have so far been named suspects in the case.

Riza’s Indonesian passport was revoked in October, according to the country’s immigration office.

Indonesia has long struggled with graft and has arrested scores of public officials in recent years.

In 2023, a former communications minister was jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of corruption in a case that investigators said cost the country more than US$530 million.