Various Bribery Case Confiscations, Starting from Premium Helmets to Money Under the Mattress

The seizure of evidence in corruption cases, such as money and vehicles, can be considered a common occurrence. However, what happens when law enforcement officials also seize helmets in such corruption cases?

Helmets of various colors are stacked in one corner of the room at the Attorney General's Office. The helmets, wrapped in clear plastic, are items seized by investigators from the Attorney General's Office for Special Crimes in a case involving alleged bribery or gratification of judges related to the handling of crude palm oil (CPO) export cases at the Central Jakarta District Court.

As reported, in the case of alleged bribery or gratification related to case management at the Central Jakarta District Court, investigators from the Attorney General's Office have named 8 suspects. Among the suspects believed to have received bribes are the Chairman of the South Jakarta District Court, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, a clerk named Wahyu Gunawan, as well as three judges, namely Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharuddin, and Ali Muhtarom.

The suspects alleged to have given bribes are Marcella Santoso and Ariyanto Bakri, acting as legal representatives of the corporate defendant. Another suspect is Muhammad Syafei, serving as the head of the legal team for Wilmar Group.

A total of 130 helmets were confiscated by investigators from the Attorney General's Office. The brands of the helmets are varied, including Ruby, Bell, Shoei, Arai, Airoh, AGV, Nolan, Simpson, Shark, and Blauer. There are also helmets branded DMD, Fox, Martini, Qwart, Dammtrax, and TT & CO.

When asked about the reason for the seizure of the helmets, the Head of the Legal Information Center of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, on Thursday (24/4/2025), stated that the value of the helmets is quite significant. "Why were the helmets seized? It turns out that helmets now have a considerable economic value. If there are over a hundred helmets, with an average price of millions per unit, how much does that amount to? Therefore, the value is very significant," explained Harli.

One of the helmets seized is branded Ruby. When viewed on the marketplace website, a single unit of an original Ruby helmet is priced between tens of millions to around 20 million rupiah. There is also a Bell-branded helmet, which is sold for millions per unit on the marketplace.

Another confiscated helmet was branded Martini. If checked on the marketplace page Sparco-official.com, such a helmet is priced at 656.64 euros or around Rp. 12.5 million. Likewise, there were helmets branded Shoei and Arai that were also confiscated. Both brands are used by MotoGP racers.

According to Harli, hundreds of helmets were seized from the home of the suspect Ariyanto Bakri, located on Jalan Mendut, Menteng, Central Jakarta. Ariyanto is the legal representative of the corporation that is a defendant in the corruption case related to CPO exports being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court.

From Ariyanto's house, investigators also seized 12 luxury bicycles, one Harley Davidson motorcycle, one Porsche 992 car, one Fiat car, and one Mini Cooper car.

"Regarding the seizure of evidence in the form of vehicles or cars and similar items, it has previously been stored in the state confiscated goods storage," said Harli.

In the bribery case, investigators also seized money, both from searches and in seemingly coincidental ways. For instance, some time ago, investigators confiscated money and two mobile phones belonging to Djuyamto, a judge at the South Jakarta District Court who is one of the suspects in the alleged bribery or gratification case.

It turns out that helmets now have a quite significant economic value. If there are around one hundred thirty helmets, with an average price of millions per unit, how much would that be? Therefore, the value is indeed very significant.

A total of Rp 48.7 million and 39,000 Singapore dollars, two mobile phones, and one ring with a green gemstone were seized by investigators. However, this evidence was not obtained from a search, but rather from the security personnel of the South Jakarta District Court.

Harli stated that all the items were in a bag that Djuyamto had entrusted to the security personnel of the South Jakarta District Court, one day before Djuyamto was designated as a suspect. The security personnel then delivered the items to the investigators of the Attorney General's Office.

"The security personnel only stated that I was entrusted by the concerned party (Djuyamto) and handed over to the investigator, thus the investigator carried out the seizure," said Djuyamto.

Until now, Harli stated, the motive behind the deposit of money and mobile phones to the security personnel of the South Jakarta District Court remains unknown. However, Harli assured that the seizure carried out is related to the case in question.

Different from Djuyamto, the confiscation of money from suspect Ali Muhtarom, ad hoc judge for corruption at the Central Jakarta District Court, was also different. Some time ago, investigators confiscated 360,000 US dollars or equivalent to Rp 5.5 billion from his house in Jepara, Central Java.

When the investigators arrived at the location, the evidence in the form of money had not yet been found. The family of Ali Muhtarom, who were present there, also did not know the whereabouts of the money.

"When brother AM (Ali Muhtarom) was examined here (in Jakarta), he communicated with his family there, and eventually (the money) was shown, revealed, and taken that the money was under the bed," said Harli.

According to Harli, it is highly likely that the existence of the money was only known to Ali Muhtarom. After being seized by investigators, the money has now been deposited into a confiscated funds trust account at the bank.

Until now, investigators are still tracing the origin of the funds. Similarly, from the bribe amounting to Rp 60 billion, only about Rp 22.5 billion has been revealed so far. Harli confirmed that various assets and funds that have been seized are tools or proceeds of crime.

"We continue to wait and see how investigators can shed more light on the source and flow," said Harli.

Separately, a researcher from the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University (Pukat UGM), Zaenur Rohman, opined that the discovery of money suspected to be the result of criminal acts of corruption has hurt the hearts of the community, which is currently entangled in difficulties. This finding also indicates a common modus operandi in criminal acts of corruption by avoiding transactions through banking.

In this regard, Zaenur stated that the judicial system in Indonesia must strengthen instruments to detect the potential occurrence of case trading in the courts. One of the mechanisms already in place is through the State Officials Wealth Report (LHKPN).

The LHKPN instrument must be improved with accompanying sanctions so that the LHKPN submitted to the KPK is indeed genuine. This is because, so far, many state officials who have been proven to commit corruption have only reported a portion of their assets.

"Like Zarof Ricar, who has cash amounting to Rp 920 billion and 50 kilograms of gold at his home. This was not reported in the LHKPN. In the past, he was in the echelon 1 at the Supreme Court (MA)," said Zaenur.

In addition, according to him, the Asset Forfeiture Bill needs to be passed immediately. If the regulation is enacted, when a state organizer possesses unjust assets, they must prove the origin of their wealth. If they cannot provide proof, then their assets must be forfeited to the state.

Regarding the ongoing case of alleged bribery or gratification, according to Zaenur, the investigators from the Attorney General's Office are still handling it partially. This is because, until now, the investigators have not clearly disclosed the source of the bribe amounting to IDR 60 billion.

If the money indeed comes from the corporation that was previously a defendant in the CPO export corruption case, then that corporation should also be considered a suspect in the alleged bribery or gratification related to the case management at the Central Jakarta District Court.

On the other hand, it is considered that not all parties benefiting from the money have been identified. This is because the total amount of bribes that have been uncovered is only around Rp 22.5 billion. "Have all the bribe money been successfully confiscated by the investigators, and have all the recipients also been designated as suspects?" said Zaenur.

He hopes that the investigators from the Attorney General's Office will not be half-hearted in uncovering the case. However, he is concerned that the investigators will repeat the case that ensnared former Supreme Court official Zarof Ricar. This is because, until now, the Attorney General's Office has not revealed the origins of the money and gold, which total a value of Rp 1 trillion, the network of involved parties, and the cases that were traded behind that money.

Have all the bribe money been confiscated by investigators and have all the recipients been named as suspects?

If the handling of the case is only like this, said Zaenur, then there will be no significant change. Moreover, the Supreme Court is also considered to be acting half-heartedly as it only responds to this case by transferring judges.

"If it continues like this, only transferring, it will not be able to produce fundamental changes," said Zaenur.

Until now, the case of alleged bribery or gratification at the Central Jakarta District Court is still under investigation. However, to what extent all parties involved will be revealed remains uncertain. What is clear is that the public is awaiting the resolution of this case in a transparent manner.