One New Suspect in Wilmar Group Judge Bribery Case

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Investigators from the Attorney General's Office have once again named a suspect in the alleged bribery or gratuity case at the Central Jakarta District Court. MSY, the suspect, is a legal staff member at Wilmar Group who played a role in preparing and providing funds amounting to Rp 60 billion for handling a corruption case involving the granting of export facilities for crude palm oil (CPO).

The Director of Investigation for the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Attorney General's Office, Abdul Qohar, stated during a press conference on Tuesday evening (15/4/2025) that, based on witness statements and documents obtained, investigators have concluded that they have found two sufficient pieces of evidence to designate an individual as a suspect.

"One suspect named MSY, where the person concerned is the social security legal of the Wilmar Group," said Qohar.

The suspect MSY was charged with Article 6 Paragraph (1) letter a in conjunction with Article 5 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 13 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) point 1 of the Criminal Code. After being named a suspect, MSY was immediately detained by investigators at the Attorney General's Office Detention Center for the next 20 days.

Thus, there are currently a total of 8 suspects. They include Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, who serves as the Chief of the South Jakarta District Court and was previously the Deputy Chief of the Central Jakarta District Court; Wahyu Gunawan, who serves as the Junior Civil Registrar of the North Jakarta District Court and was previously assigned to the Central Jakarta District Court; as well as Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharuddin, and Ali Muhtarom, who serve as the panel of judges in the corruption case involving the granting of crude palm oil (CPO) export facilities.

From the private sector are Marcella Santoso as the company's attorney; Aryanto Bakri as the company's attorney, and finally MSY as social security legal at Wilmar Group.

The Role of MSY

Qohar said MSY's involvement in this case began with a meeting between Aryanto and Wahyu Gunawan. At that time Wahyu Gunawan said that the cooking oil case must be taken care of. If not, the verdict could be maximum, even exceeding the demands of the public prosecutor.

At that time, the prosecutor demanded that the panel of judges rule that three corporate groups were legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing corruption collectively. In addition, the prosecutor also demanded that the corporate defendants pay restitution.

The defendant Permata Hijau Group has been demanded to pay restitution amounting to Rp 937.5 billion. The defendant Wilmar Group has been demanded to pay restitution for the country's economic losses amounting to Rp 11.8 trillion. Meanwhile, the defendant Musim Mas Group has been demanded to pay restitution for the country's economic losses amounting to Rp 4.8 trillion.

In the meeting, Wahyu Gunawan inquired about the funds provided by the corporate defendant. However, Aryanto was unable to answer as he needed to consult his client first. Subsequently, the information from Wahyu Gunawan was conveyed by Aryanto to Marcella Santoso.

By Marcella Santoso, the information that Wahyu Gunawan could assist in handling the case was conveyed to MSY. However, at that time, MSY stated that a team was already managing the matter.

About 2 weeks later, Aryanto was contacted again by Wahyu Gunawan. At that time, Wahyu said that this case should be taken care of immediately. Aryanto then conveyed the message from Wahyu Gunawan to Marcella Santoso. Just like before, Marcella Santoso forwarded the message to MSY. At that time, MSY said that the cost provided by the corporation was IDR 20 billion to obtain an acquittal.

From there, finally a meeting was held between Aryanto, Wahyu Gunawan and Arif Nuryanta at the Layar Seafood Sedayu restaurant, Kelapa Gading, East Jakarta. In the meeting, Arif Nuryanta said that the cooking oil case could not be decided free but the case was decided ontslag. Arif Nuryanta also asked that the Rp20 billion be multiplied by 3 so that the total became Rp60 billion.

After the request, Aryanto then conveyed it to Marcella Santoso. Then Marcella Santoso contacted MSY.

MSY also agreed to prepare the request in foreign currencies, namely US dollars and Singapore dollars. Three days later, MSY told Marcella Santoso that the money was ready and asked where the money would be delivered. Marcella Santoso then gave Aryanto's number to MSY.

After Aryanto communicated with MSY, they both met at the parking lot of the Integrated Business Center (SCBD). There MSY handed over the money to Aryanto. Aryanto delivered the money to Wahyu Gunawan's house in Cilincing, North Jakarta.

"The suspect Wahyu Gunawan handed it over to the suspect Muhammad Arif Nuryanta. And the suspect Wahyu Gunawan was given 50,000 US dollars by the suspect Muhammad Arif Nuryanta," said Qohar.

Corporation

According to Qohar, investigators are still developing the origin of the Rp 60 billion. Investigators have not been able to confirm whether the Rp 60 billion was provided entirely by the Wilmar Group or whether there were also contributions from other corporations, namely the Musim Mas Group and Permata Hijau Group.

However, until now, investigators have not questioned the two corporations. "We will definitely take action against anyone. Well, if it's anyone, then it could be ABC. Anyone as long as the evidence is sufficient," he said.

Head of the Attorney General's Office's Legal Information Center Harli Siregar added that investigators had searched 3 places in 2 provinces. From the search, investigators confiscated 2 Mercedez Benz cars, 2 Vespa motorcycles, 1 Honda CRV car, and 4 Brompton bicycles. (NAD)