Three judges have been arrested by Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on suspicion of taking bribes in a well-known case involving illicit palm oil exports.
The Jakarta Globe newspaper said that Abdul Qohar, the Director of Investigations for the AGO, announced this on Monday.
The judges, Ali Muhtarom, Djuyamto, and Agam Syarif Baharuddin, were arrested late Sunday on suspicion of taking bribes in return for the acquittal of Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group organizations.
The publication stated that the suspects determined in March that although the companies had been exporting crude palm oil without government permits, their activities did not violate the country’s criminal laws.
Qohar claims that detectives obtained enough information to identify the three judges as suspects after speaking with seven witnesses.
They are well aware that the purpose of the money was to obtain a favorable decision.
Through former South Jakarta District Court Chief Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, the judges initially collected 4.5 billion Indonesian rupiah (268,111 USD) in 2024. In a subsequent transaction, they earned an additional 18 billion Indonesian rupiah.
“There were seven suspects in the case overall after the judges were taken into custody.”
Prosecutors on Sunday named Nuryanta, defense lawyers Marcella Santoso and Ariyanto, and South Jakarta District Court clerk Wahyu Gunawan as suspects in the case.
A temporary embargo on the export of crude palm oil has been allegedly broken by Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group.
A national cooking oil deficit prompted former President Joko Widodo to impose a restriction on Indonesia’s export of crude palm oil in 2022.
The government then claimed that the illicit shipments cost the nation $10.9 million since it had to subsidize local cooking oil prices to make up for the crisis.
In January 2023, five defendants in the unlawful exports case—including prominent market analyst Lin Che Wei and a senior Trade Ministry official—were given prison sentences ranging from one to three years.
Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana, a former director-general of international trade at the Trade Ministry, and company executives Master Parulian Tumanggor, Stanley MA, and Pierre are among the other convicted convicts.