Zarof Ricar Admits to Having Received IDR 50 Billion to Handle Civil Case in Sugar Case

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Former Supreme Court official, Zarof Ricar, acknowledged that the amount of money reaching approximately Rp 920 billion in the safe at his home is the result of handling cases in court.

One of the largest rewards obtained, amounting to Rp 50 billion, comes from handling civil cases at the cassation level related to a sugar company. This handling aims to strengthen the verdict results at the district court and high court levels.

This was stated by Zarof Ricar while serving as a key witness in the ongoing trial of the bribery case for the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, involving the defendant lawyer Lisa Rachmat and Ronald Tannur's mother, Meirizka Widjaja, at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Wednesday (7/5/2025). The hearing was presided over by Chief Judge Rosihan Juhriah Rangkuti.

In this case, Zarof Ricar is charged as an intermediary for bribery between Lisa Rahmat and the three judges of the Surabaya District Court who acquitted Ronald Tannur. Ronald Tannur was involved in the case of the assault on his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afrianti, which resulted in her death.

Meanwhile, the three judges accused of accepting bribes to acquit Ronald, namely Erintuah Damanik and Mangapul, have been sentenced to 9 years in prison. Another judge, Heru Hanindyo, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Zarof Ricar has also been charged with receiving gratuities in the form of cash amounting to Rp 915 billion and gold weighing 51 kilograms during his tenure at the Supreme Court. The gratuities were intended to assist in the handling of cases from 2012 to 2022.

During the hearing, the public prosecutor delved into the findings related to the money. However, the prosecutor mentioned the amount of IDR 920 billion stored in a safe at Zarof's house. According to the prosecutor, the minutes of the examination (BAP) belonging to Zarof had previously explained various cases handled by Zarof and the amounts of money obtained from managing those cases.

"This is based on witness statements in the minutes of the investigation, where several cases are explained by witnesses, including a witness receiving money which was then stored in a safe. What we mean to ask is, was the entire amount you received of Rp 920 billion indeed purely stored in the safe?" asked the prosecutor.

“Money from handling cases?” the prosecutor asked again.

Zarof confirmed that the money came from handling the case. "Yes," Zarof answered briefly.

Nevertheless, Zarof admitted that he has forgotten the cases he has handled, apart from the case of Ronald Tannur that was requested by Lisa Rachmat.

"The biggest issue is the one that was mentioned yesterday, Marubeni or whatever it is," said Zarof.

According to Zarof, the case he once handled with a substantial fee was related to a lawsuit involving one of the sugar group companies. The handling of the civil case at the cassation level occurred around 2016 or 2018. At that time, he received a payment of up to Rp 50 billion.

According to Zarof, the handling of the case aims to strengthen the verdict results at the district court and high court levels. However, neither the prosecutor nor Zarof provided further details regarding the case in question or the sugar company mentioned.

"How much is the amount mentioned?" asked the prosecutor.

"At that time, if I'm not mistaken, I received the first one, maybe around Rp. 50 billion," he said.

Zarof admitted that he was willing to assist in the case because he was confident of winning. This is because, based on the documents he obtained, the case involving the sugar company had already won at the district court and the high court levels.

"We received information that he won at the District Court, and the High Court won," said Zarof.

According to Zarof, although he served as the Head of the Research and Development Agency and the Education and Training of Law and Justice at the Supreme Court and did not have access to the case, he had connections with the judges. With those connections, he inquired about the outcome of the case.

"Thus, you can know how the developments are and study the documents, is there anyone you can ask for assistance regarding the data?" asked the prosecutor.

"Yes, I asked around, then I also looked, oh they won at the District Court, they won at the High Court. I speculated that this would definitely win. I asked my friends, well there is this case, discussions, yes at the Supreme Court, I asked everyone, sir," said Zarof.

When asked by the prosecutor further about which of the Supreme Court justices at the MA often discussed matters with him, Zarof was initially reluctant to answer. However, Zarof eventually admitted to frequently discussing with Soltani Mohdally when he was still serving as a Supreme Court Justice or Head of the Civil Chamber at the MA.

"So at that time I asked Mr. Soltani. I asked Mr. Soltani about this and that. He is the easiest to ask about any case," said Zarof.