Zarof Ricar Money Laundering Suspect, Can Investigators Trace Bribers?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Attorney General's Office has designated Agung Zarof Ricar as a suspect in a money laundering crime. The former official of the Supreme Court is suspected of committing money laundering while still working at the Supreme Court from 2012 to 2022 and after his retirement in 2023-2024. This action by the Attorney General's Office is considered effective in seizing the funds amounting to Rp 915 billion and 51 kilograms of gold found in Zarof Ricar's residence, but it is challenging to trace the flow of money as well as the bribers and bribed parties.

As stated by the Head of the Legal Information Center of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, on Tuesday (29/4/2025), on April 10, investigators designated Zarof Ricar as a suspect in a money laundering crime for violating his obligations or duties from 2012 to 2020. Additionally, this is also related to the handling of cases in the Supreme Court between 2023-2024.

"Regarding ZR (Zarof Ricar), how his actions over the past 10 years have always been questioned, including in the handling of the case," said Harli.

In addition to Zarof Ricar, investigators have also named the inactive judge of the Surabaya District Court, Heru Hanindyo, as a suspect in a money laundering crime. Although both are charged under the money laundering statute, Heru is designated as a suspect in connection with the handling of cases at the Surabaya District Court during the period from 2020 to 2024.

Currently, Zarof Ricar and Heru Hanindyo are defendants in the bribery case concerning the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, which is still ongoing at the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court. In this case, Heru is facing a sentence of 12 years in prison and a fine of Rp 750 million.

According to Harli, investigators have searched and seized assets belonging to the two suspects in the money laundering case. The investigators have requested the blocking of several assets owned by the Zarof family to the land agency offices in several areas, namely South Jakarta, Depok City, and Pekanbaru City. The investigators have also examined the Head of the Rights Determination and Registration Section of the Tangerang City BPN Office regarding this matter.

Similarly, investigators have also blocked several assets belonging to Heru. However, Harli has not been able to provide details as the blocking process is still ongoing. In addition to the blocking, investigators are also examining several witnesses related to Heru, one of whom is TNY, the President Director of PT Pesona Jati Abadi.

Regarding the legal facts revealed in the trial, according to Harli, the investigators will continue to monitor the developments that occur. However, the facts disclosed during the trial will be linked to the evidence, as the prosecutor's duty is to carry out the proof.

"There are developments regarding witnesses, and so forth. Therefore, we are entering into the Money Laundering Act. For what purpose? So that we can secure all assets. This also answers the question, if it involves money laundering, from whom did he receive the money and to whom did he hand it over? Thus, we certainly hope that everything can be more transparent in handling the money laundering case," said Harli.

Separately, researcher from the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University, Zaenur Rohman, believes that the application of money laundering charges against Zarof Ricar is appropriate. Thus, investigators have a significant opportunity to confiscate the Rp 915 billion and 51 kilograms of gold found in Zarof Ricar's residence, which are suspected to be the proceeds of crime.

The application of the money laundering article actually makes it difficult to find and trace the party giving the money or giving the bribe.

Under the money laundering article, investigators are not required to prove the predicate crime and are only burdened with proving the money laundering offense. If using the corruption offense article, investigators must prove the source of the money along with the purpose of giving the money one by one.

"If it must be proven one by one, of course, that presents a particular difficulty that investigators must face. Meanwhile, the transactions are suspected to be in cash because the money was found in Zarof's house in cash form," he stated.

However, Zaenur emphasized that the application of money laundering articles actually complicates the search and tracing of the parties providing the money or bribers. Therefore, investigators are expected to continue developing the case to trace the origin and purpose of the funds amounting to Rp 915 billion and 51 kilograms of gold.

"If Zarof Ricar only acted as an intermediary, it means there are key players involved, namely the judges, clerks, advocates, or other parties that need to be involved," said Zaenur.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Civil Coalition Against Corruption, Ronald Loblobly, assessed that the designation of Zarof Ricar as a suspect in money laundering is not substantial because the case is linked to the gratification case of Zarof Ricar related to the acquittal of Ronald Tannur.

According to Ronald, Zarof should have been charged from the beginning with bribery, not gratification as alleged by the public prosecutor. When he was subsequently charged with money laundering, the burden of proof regarding the suspicion of money laundering crimes rested solely on the defendant Zarof Ricar using a reverse burden of proof method. Meanwhile, the prosecutor had no burden of proof.

"If the gratification article is junctoed with the money laundering crime article, the construction of the corruption crime becomes pitch black. This benefits the briber and the judges who are suspected of being the final destination of the bribe money," he said.

In this context, Ronald continued, the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition assesses that the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General's Office, Febrie Adriansyah, has taken actions that can materially be viewed as obstructing the investigation in accordance with Article 21 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes and abuse of authority as referred to in Article 421 of the Criminal Code.

Ronald also claimed that the Civil Coalition Against Corruption has four other cases related to abuse of authority and obstruction of investigations that he stated have been carried out by Jampidsus. Ronald promised to report them to the Deputy Attorney General for Supervision (Jamwas) of the Attorney General's Office one by one.

"We don't want law enforcement officers to eradicate corruption while committing corruption," he said.

On Monday (28/4/2025), the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition reported Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah to the Supervisory Board of the Attorney General's Office for allegedly violating ethical standards in the bribery or gratification case involving former Supreme Court official Zarof Ricar. According to Ronald, Jampidsus is accused of deliberately distorting the legal process related to Zarof Ricar, thus only applying the gratification article to the discovery of Rp 915 billion in cash and 51 kilograms of gold at Zarof's residence.