Indonesia has detained the chief judge of the South Jakarta District Court along with three others in connection with an alleged bribery scheme related to a high-profile 2022 palm oil export corruption case that involved a unit of Singapore-listed Wilmar International Ltd.
In a statement on Saturday (April 12), the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) identified the judge by the initials MAN, along with a court employee (WG) and two lawyers (MS and AR), as suspects in the case. Prosecutors allege the lawyers paid the judge 60 billion rupiah (approximately US$3.57 million or RM15.79 million) in bribes to influence the outcome of the trial.
The bribery was allegedly intended to secure a favourable ruling in a March 2025 verdict, where a panel of judges determined that Wilmar Group, Musim Mas Group, and Permata Hijau Group had not committed any criminal offence in the palm oil export scandal.
AGO spokesperson Harli Siregar confirmed that the suspects would be detained for the next 20 days pending further investigation.
As part of the probe, prosecutors raided five locations in Jakarta on Friday and seized large sums of cash in multiple currencies—including Chinese yuan, Singapore dollars, US dollars, Indonesian rupiah, and Malaysian ringgit. Authorities also confiscated luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz and a Ferrari, as part of the evidence haul.
The original 2022 corruption case implicated officials from Indonesia’s trade ministry and centred around the issuance of export permits that did not meet regulatory requirements. The scandal was compounded by failures in meeting domestic palm oil distribution obligations, contributing to a surge in cooking oil prices and public outcry.
The latest development signals a renewed commitment by Indonesian authorities to crack down on judicial corruption and ensure accountability in one of the country’s most lucrative industries.–BLOOMBERG
