Judge: Director General of Customs Receives Rp21 Billion Bribe from Blueray Cargo Owner

JAKARTA - The Corruption Court of Justice at the Central Jakarta District Court stated that the Director General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance, Djaka Budhi Utama, received a bribe of IDR 21 billion from Blueray Cargo owner John Field.

Member Judge Nofalinda Arianti explained that the bribe was given by John with the aim that the Customs would try to get the imported goods belonging to the Blueray Cargo Group out of the supervision process in the Customs Directorate General of Customs.

"The acceptance by Djaka was carried out seven times in the form of Singapore dollars with the code BC1," said Judge Nofalinda when reading the legal considerations in the verdict hearing at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, Friday, July 10, reported by ANTARA.

In detail, Djaka received money from John each of Rp3 billion for seven times, namely in July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025, December 2025, and January 2026.

Based on the facts of the trial, the panel of judges stated that the money was received by Djaka together with other customs officials, including Rizal, Orlando Hamonangan, and Sisprian Subiaksono. The three are being tried in different trials.

In addition to receiving money from John, Judge Nofalinda said Djaka also met with the heads of 10 cargo companies that used to import commodities with high risks, including John.

However, it is stated that the meeting was held unofficially because it was not known to internal compliance, was not conveyed to the Ministry of Finance, was not budgeted by the State Treasury Service Office (KPPN) in the Implementation of Budget Fill-in List (DIPA), and was held from the collection of various external receipts of Customs.

"The panel of judges considers these actions to violate the code of ethics and guidelines for the conduct of customs directorate general employees, which have the potential to occur in the practice of corruption, collusion, and nepotism," said Nofalinda.

In the case of alleged corruption in the environment of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance in 2025-2026, John Field was proven to have given bribes totaling Rp. 91.77 billion to Customs officials.

The bribe was given by John together with the Operational Manager of the Blueray Cargo Port Custom Clearance Dedy Kurniawan and the Head of the Blueray Cargo Import Documentation Team Andri.

Therefore, John Field was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of Rp. 300 million, with 100 days in prison.

Meanwhile, Dedy and Andri were each sentenced to one year and six months (1.5 years) in prison and a fine of Rp200 million with 80 days in prison.

Thus, the three defendants were found guilty of violating the crime stipulated in Article 605 paragraph (1) letter ajuncto Article 20 letter c jo. Article 126 paragraph (1) of the National Criminal Code jo. Article VII number 48 of Law Number 1 of 2026 concerning Criminal Adjustment.