Gaurav Srivastava: An Indian-origin businessman named Gaurav Srivastava is accused of telling people he was a CIA agent and using that story to build ties with Indonesian officials. A joint report by OCCRP and Tempo says he got close to Prabowo Subianto when Prabowo was Indonesia’s defense minister. The report says Prabowo even gave him the nickname “Mr G”. It also says Dutch oil trader Niels Troost went with Srivastava to Prabowo’s home in mid-2022.
Troost later claimed Srivastava spoke as if he knew private things about Prabowo, including a belief that spider webs inside the house should not be removed because they were part of nature. Troost also said Srivastava claimed he helped identify people behind the 2002 Bali bombings and helped get Prabowo off a long US immigration blacklist.
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The report says Srivastava also told Indonesian officials and business people that he was part of the CIA. That story, according to the investigation, helped him gain trust in powerful circles. Troost said in email and court filings that Srivastava acted like a well-connected spy and even visited and stayed often at Prabowo’s places. Prabowo did not respond to repeated requests for comment, according to OCCRP.
The Defence Deals
From 2020 to 2022, companies linked to Srivastava got five early agreements from Indonesia’s Defence Ministry and a state-owned defence company. These were not final contracts. They were letters of intent and one memorandum of understanding. The proposed deals covered 36 F-15 fighter jets, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, C-130 transport planes, and a joint operations command and control centre for Indonesia’s defence ministry.
OCCRP says Srivastava joined Prabowo in high-level meetings in Washington and Jakarta in 2020. He also appeared in signing events with Prabowo and company executives. In 2022, the US government approved a possible sale of 36 F-15 jets and related gear worth about $13.9 billion, but that announcement did not name Srivastava’s firms.
Paper Trail
Indonesia did not go ahead with any of the planned purchases. The Defence Ministry said the early agreements existed, but they were not binding. A ministry spokesperson, Rico Sirait, said, “The entire process of Indonesian defense cooperation and procurement is always carried out with utmost caution, prioritizing the principles of good governance, national interest, and compliance with applicable mechanisms and regulations,” according to Tempo and OCCRP. It says the four companies controlled by Srivastava were shell firms with no defence procurement history and were later deregistered after failing to pay taxes.
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Denials and Court Fights
The investigation says Srivastava also built ties with Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo’s brother and the head of the Arsari Group. Troost says he trusted Srivastava so much that he gave him 50% of his company. In his lawsuit, Troost calls Srivastava “a brazen con man of remarkable skill.”
The complaint also says Srivastava arranged a $51 million loan from their company to Arsari, told Troost it was for a covert US government program, and then pushed for part of that money to be sent to him. Troost says Srivastava used that money to buy a $25 million mansion in Los Angeles. The complaint says Srivastava then tried to get the rest of the loan, but Arsari refused.
Srivastava has denied the CIA claim and called it “gross fabrications” on his website. OCCRP says Troost has filed civil cases in California and in the Southern District of New York, and those cases point to recorded calls in which Srivastava allegedly made the CIA claim.
