NEW DELHI: An Indian-origin businessman allegedly posed as a CIA operative and built connections with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to win a multibillion-dollar defence contract for fighter jets and military equipment, according to a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Civil lawsuits filed by his former partner Niels Troost in California and New York claim the scheme started when the businessman stated in recorded calls that he worked for the CIA. The suits say he used those claims to reach senior Indonesian officials and joined then-defence minister Prabowo Subianto at meetings in Washington and Jakarta in 2020 to discuss military purchases. That year he obtained three letters of intent for Indonesia to buy fighter jets and other equipment, followed by another letter and a memorandum of understanding in 2021 and 2022. None of the deals resulted in actual purchases. Between 2020 and 2022 four companies linked to the businessman secured five preliminary defence agreements from Indonesia’s defence ministry and a state firm. Corporate records later showed the firms were shell entities with no defence experience; all were deregistered for unpaid taxes. The proposed deals covered 36 F-15 jets, UH-60 helicopters, C-130 aircraft and a joint command centre. The businessman denies the claims, calling them fabrications spread by his former partner, who faces sanctions over Russian oil trading.
