Dragged into Corruption Case of CPO Export Release Verdict, Member Judge in Tom Lembong Case Replaced

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Jakarta Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court has replaced the panel judge in the alleged sugar import corruption case at the Ministry of Trade during 2015-2016, Ali Muhtarom, with Judge Alfis Setyawan. Ali Muhtarom, who was also one of the judges presiding over the corruption case involving the granting of export facilities for crude palm oil (CPO), has been named a suspect in the alleged bribery or gratification related to case management at the Central Jakarta District Court.

The replacement of panel judges was announced by the Presiding Judge Dennie Arsan Fatika during the continued hearing of witness examination in the alleged sugar import corruption case at the Ministry of Trade for the years 2015-2016, with defendants Tom Lembong and Charles Sitorus at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Monday (14/4/2025).

According to Dennie, Ali Muhtarom is permanently incapacitated and can no longer preside over hearings. Therefore, to adjudicate the case, a member judge needs to be appointed to replace the previously established composition.

Appointing and designating Dennie Arsan Fatrika SH, MH as the presiding judge, Purwanto S. Abdullah SH, MH as a member judge, and Alfis Setyawan SH, MH as a member judge to adjudicate the case of the defendant registered under Case Number 34/Pidsus TPK 2025 at the Central Jakarta District Court.

"This takes into account the provisions in Article 26 of Law Number 46 of 2009 concerning the Corruption Crime Court, Law Number 8 of 1981 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code, and other relevant legislation," said Dennie.

Previously, the panel of judges in the corruption case regarding sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade consisted of Dennie Arsan, Purwanto S Abdullah, and Ali Muhtarom. Now, Ali Muhtarom has been replaced by Alfis Setyawan as a member judge.

"Appointing and designating Dennie Arsan Fatrika SH, MH as the presiding judge, Purwanto S. Abdullah SH, MH as a member judge, and Alfis Setyawan SH, MH as a member judge to adjudicate the case of the defendant listed in the case register number 34/Pidsus TPK 2025 at the Central Jakarta District Court," stated Judge Dennie.

As for the follow-up trial of the examination of witnesses in the sugar import corruption case at the Ministry of Trade, the public prosecutor presented four witnesses. They are the Acting Director General of Domestic Trade for the 2015-2016 period Sri Agustina; Acting Director of Imports at the Ministry of Trade (2015-2016) Nusa Eka; retired Ministry of Trade Gunaryo; and Salomo Rahmatullah Damanik, Special Staff of the Minister of Trade (2015-2016).

It is known that Ali Muhtarom is an ad hoc judge at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) at the Central Jakarta District Court. Muhtarom was involved in trying a number of major cases. The cases in question include the corruption case of the management of PT Asabri (Persero) investment funds, the case of the sale and purchase of PT Antam's precious metal gold, the corruption case of the former Governor of Papua Lukas Enembe, and the corruption of the base transceiver station or BTS 4G Bakti Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

Director of Investigation of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Attorney General's Office Abdul Qohar, revealed that Ali Muhtarom as an ad hoc judge together with Djuyamto who sat as chief judge and Agam Syarif Baharuddin as a member judge also received money given by the corporate defendant. The three of them are the panel of judges who issued the acquittal verdict against the three corporate groups that were corporate defendants, namely Permata Hijau Group, Wilmar Group, and Musim Mas Group.

Previously, on Saturday (12/4/2025), the Attorney General's Office investigators named four suspects, one of whom was Muhammad Arif Nuryanta who is currently the Head of the South Jakarta District Court. The other three are Wahyu Gunawan as the Deputy Civil Clerk of the North Jakarta District Court who previously served at the Central Jakarta District Court and Marcella Santoso and Aryanto who are the company's attorneys.

They were named suspects after investigators found evidence in the form of bribes or gratuities amounting to Rp 60 billion to Arif. The money was given by Aryanto through Wahyu Gunawan for handling a corruption case involving the provision of export facilities for crude palm oil during the period of January 2022 to April 2022, with the defendant being a corporation.

Three judges who tried the corruption case of granting crude palm oil or CPO export facilities are suspected of receiving a sum of money in the form of US and Singapore dollars through Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, who at that time served as Deputy Chairman of the Central Jakarta District Court.

"The three judges knew the purpose of accepting the money so that the case would be decided without prejudice and this became apparent when on March 19, 2025, the cooking oil corporation case was decided without prejudice by the panel of judges," said Qohar.

The money was first received before the trial of the corruption case regarding the provision of crude palm oil export facilities was held.

At that time, after the issuance of the court session decree, Arif Nuryanta summoned Djuyamto and Agam to hand over US dollar bills equivalent to IDR 4.5 billion. "Muhammad Arif Nuryanta conveyed to these two individuals that the case should be given attention," explained Qohar.

Then in October or November 2024, Arif again gave money in US dollars worth Rp 18 billion to Djuyamto. By Djuyamto, the money was then distributed to the panel of judges in different amounts.

Djuyamto received Rp 6 billion, Agam Rp 4.5 billion, and Ali Muhtarom Rp 5 billion. The total money received by the three judges is estimated to be Rp 22.5 billion.

The three suspects were charged with Article 12 letter c in conjunction with Article 12B, in conjunction with Article 6 paragraph 2, in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 ke-(1) of the Criminal Code. The three were immediately detained by investigators at the Attorney General's Office detention center for the next 20 days.

Not only for the three judges, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta also gave money to Wahyu Gunawan amounting to 50,000 US dollars. The money was as a fee as a liaison.

So far, the number of suspects in the bribery case in the Central Jakarta District Court is seven people.