Prosecutors Believe IDR 28 Billion of Bribe Money Intended for Judge Ended Up with Ary Gadun FM and Marcella Santoso

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Public Prosecutor (JPU) believes that IDR 28 billion, part of the money intended to bribe the panel of judges in the case of three crude palm oil (CPO) corporations, ended up in the personal accounts of lawyer and defendant Marcella Santoso, Ariyanto Bakri, and Head of Social Security Legal at Wilmar Group, M. Syafei.

“The amount requested was IDR 60 billion, but only about IDR 32 billion reached Wahyu Gunawan and the panel of judges. Therefore, the remaining IDR 28 billion, in our conclusion, remains the responsibility of Ariyanto, Marcella, and Syafei,” said Prosecutor Andy Setyawan, when met at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Wednesday (25/2/2026).

Andy said that Ariyanto had denied receiving the IDR 28 billion, claiming he only received money from the corporations and delivered it to former Deputy Registrar of the North Jakarta District Court and convicted person, Wahyu Gunawan.

However, according to the prosecutors’ records, the bribe money requested by Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, who at the time served as Deputy Chairman of the Central Jakarta District Court, was 3 million US dollars, equivalent to IDR 60 billion.

Andy said that the request for IDR 60 billion was recorded in conversations between the suspects and was also written down on a piece of paper by Marcella Santoso.

“Our basis is still the chat requesting IDR 60 billion, and there is also a handwritten note for IDR 60 billion. Then, only IDR 32 billion was received, so the rest, we conclude who delivered it. That’s how it is,” Andy added.

Until the end of the trial, Marcella, Ariyanto, and Syafei denied receiving the IDR 60 billion bribe.

Ariyanto, who received and delivered the money, insisted that he received IDR 40 billion from Wilmar Group in Singapore.

Despite the denials, the JPU demanded that the three defendants pay a total of IDR 28 billion in restitution.

Meanwhile, Marcella and Ariyanto are also subject to additional restitution charges because they are also charged in a case of money laundering worth IDR 24.5 billion.

This amount is divided in half and demanded from Marcella Santoso and Ariyanto Bakri.

Marcella Santoso and Ariyanto were each sentenced to 17 years in prison and a fine of IDR 600 million, or 150 days in prison, with restitution of IDR 21.6 billion, or 8 years in prison.

Both are charged under Article 6 paragraph (1) letter a in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 20 letter a and Article 607 paragraph (1) letter a of the National Criminal Code.

Meanwhile, Syafei was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a fine of IDR 600 million, or 150 days in prison, and restitution of IDR 9.33 billion, or 5 years in prison.

For the cluster of obstruction of investigation, former Director of News at Jak TV, Tian Bahtiar, was sentenced, and the Chairman of the Cyber Army team, M Adhiya Muzakki, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and a fine of IDR 600 million, or 150 days in prison.

Tian and Adhiya are charged under Article 21 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the National Criminal Code.

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