TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) is probing three suspects—Ariyanto, Marcello Santoso, and Muhammad Arif Nuryanto—in the bribery linked to the dismissal of a lawsuit on the crude palm oil (CPO) export case.
"This is a follow-up investigation," said the Head of the Information Center of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, at his office on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Ariyanto and Marcella Santoso are corporate lawyers, while Arif Nuryanta is the Chief Judge of the South Jakarta District Court. The specifics of the probing are only known by the investigators.
The AGO has released eight names in the bribery case, including: Ariyanto or Ary Bakri and Marcella Santoso, court clerk Wahyu Gunawan, Chief Judge of the South Jakarta District Court Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, Head of Social Security and License at Wilmar Group Muhammad Syafei, and the panel of judges for the CPO corruption case consisting of Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharuddin, and Ali Muhtarom.
According to the official statement from the Attorney General's Office on April 15, 2025, the case began with the collusion between lawyer Ariyanto and court clerk Wahyu Gunawan. At that time, Wahyu mentioned that the case had to be “taken care of.” Otherwise, the verdict could be at its maximum, even exceeding the demands of the Public Prosecutor.
During the meeting, Wahyu also inquired about the expenses provided by the corporate defendants. However, Ariyanto could not provide an answer as he needed to consult with his client first.
Information from Wahyu was then relayed by Ariyanto to Marcella Santoso, a corporate lawyer. Marcella then met with Muhammad Syafei, Head of Social Security and License at Wilmar Group, at the Daun Muda restaurant, South Jakarta.
To Syafei, Marcella mentioned that court clerk Wahyu Gunawan could help deal with the CPO corruption case they were handling. At that time, Syafei mentioned that there was already a team handling it.
Two weeks later, Wahyu Gunawan contacted Ariyanto, saying the case had to be dealt with promptly. Ariyanto then passed on the information to Marcella. Marcella met with Syafei again at the same restaurant. At that time, Syafei mentioned that the expenses provided by the corporation amounted to Rp20 billion to obtain an acquittal.
Ariyanto, Wahyu Gunawan, and Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, who was then serving as the Vice Chair of the Central Jakarta District Court, met at the Layar Seafood Sedayu restaurant in Kelapa Gading, East Jakarta.
During this collusion, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta mentioned that the cooking oil case could not be acquitted, but it could be dismissed. The term is an abbreviation of “ontslag van alle recht vervolging,” which means the defendant is proven to have committed an act but is not considered a criminal offense. He then requested Rp20 billion times three, amounting to Rp60 billion.
Court clerk Wahyu Gunawan then instructed Ariyanto to prepare Rp60 billion. After receiving this request, Ariyanto informed Marcella. She then contacted Syafei, who agreed to the request in Singaporean or US dollars.
Wahyu then handed the funds to Muhammad Arif Nuryanta. The judge then gave US$50,000 to Wahyu.
According to the official statement from the Attorney General's Office on April 14, 2025, the money was then given by Arif to the panel of judges handling the CPO case. Namely, Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharuddin, and Ali Muhtarom. After the trial verdict was issued, Arif called the three of them and gave them US$4.5 million, to read the case files, and pay attention to the case.
The money was then put into a goodie bag carried by Agam Syarif Baharuddin. The money was then divided among the three judges handling the case.
Around September or October 2024, Judge Arif once again handed over the US dollar equivalent of Rp18 billion. So, the total amount suspected to have been received by the three judges was Rp22 billion. According to the Attorney General's Office, the panel of judges was aware that the money was given to ensure the dismissal of the crude palm oil export case.
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