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View all search resultsSupreme Court strikes down palm oil giants’ corruption acquittal
All palm oil companies were ordered to each pay a Rp 1 billion (US$59,580) fine, along with various restitution ranging from Rp 900 billion to nearly Rp 12 trillion, after they were declared guilty in a corruption case pertaining to crude palm oil export permits.
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A worker displays harvested oil palm fruits in a plantation in Mesuji Raya village in Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra, on April 29, 2023. (Antara/Budi Candra Setya)
T
he Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling that cleared three major palm oil groups of corruption charges linked to permits for crude palm oil (CPO) exports, reinstating their criminal liability and ordering trillions of rupiah in fines and restitutions.
In a ruling read on Sept. 15, the court found palm oil companies Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group and Musim Mas Group guilty of corruption when obtaining permits to export CPO and its derivatives in 2022, the year when shipments of such products were restricted due to domestic cooking oil shortage.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) suspected the three companies breached the temporary export ban imposed by the administration of then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to stabilize local prices during the height of the cooking oil shortage in the country.
Investigators alleged the illegal exports had cost the state around Rp 18 trillion (US$1.07 billion) as the government had to heavily subsidize domestic cooking oil prices to ease the crisis.
AGO prosecutors demanded the Jakarta Corruption Court to sentence the three companies guilty of corruption and order each to pay Rp 1 billion in fines, as well as an additional restitution payment ranging from Rp 900 billion to Rp 11 trillion to compensate for the state losses.
But three judges handling the case, namely Agam Syarif Baharuddin, Ali Muhtarom and Djuyamto, cleared the companies of all charges.
Read also: AGO seizes ‘historic’ sum of money from palm oil corruption case
