Surya Darmadi Divonis 15 Years In Prison In The Oil Palm Plantation Corruption Case

The owner of the Darmex Group Surya Darmadi at the Corruption Court, Jakarta, Thursday (23/2/2023). ANTARA

JAKARTA - The owner of the Darmex Group, Surya Darmadi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a corruption case in the oil palm plantation business without a permit in Riau Province for the 2004-2022 period. "The defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison plus a fine of Rp. 1 billion, subsidiary to 6 months in prison," said Chief Judge Fahzal Hendri at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor), Antara, Thursday, February 23. The panel of judges assessed that Surya was proven guilty of a criminal act as the first primary indictment of Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law no. 20 of 2001 jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code as well as the third primary indictment of Article 3 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering. In addition, the defendant was also required to pay compensation of the amount of money he received from the criminal act amounting to Rp2,238,274,248,234.00 and compensation for state economic losses of Rp39,751,177,520.00. "If the defendant does not pay the replacement money no later than 1 month after the decision has permanent legal force, the property can be confiscated and auctioned off or replaced with an additional 5 years in prison," said Fahzal. In drafting the decision, the panel of judges considered burdensome and mitigating matters. Related to aggravating matters, including the panel of judges assessed that Surya's actions did not support the government's program related to eradicating corruption. Second, the defendant's actions have triggered a conflict between his company and the local community. Meanwhile, mitigating factors, including Surya being elderly, being polite at trial, carrying out corporate social responsibilities such as building infrastructure, housing employees, schools, and houses of worship, having 21,000 employees, and being obedient in paying taxes. Regarding this decision, Surya and the legal team stated that they would file an appeal, while the public prosecutor (JPU) at the Attorney General's Office stated that they would think about it for 7 days in filing an appeal. Previously, the Attorney General's Office at the Corruption Court, Jakarta, Monday (6/2), demanded that Surya be sentenced to life imprisonment plus a fine of Rp. 1 billion, subsidiary to 6 months in prison. According to the prosecutor, it was proven to have committed an act as stated in the first indictment of Article 2 paragraph (1) jo. Article 18 of Law no. 31/1999 as amended by Law no. 20/2001 jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code, Article 3 paragraph (1) letter c of Law no. 15/2002 as amended by Law no. 25/2003 concerning the Crime of Money Laundering and Article 3 of Law no. 8/2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering. The prosecutor also assessed that Surya's actions resulted in state financial and economic losses of Rp. 78.8 trillion. In addition, Surya also committed a crime of money laundering in the 2005 —2022 period. Surya Darmadi dituntut untuk bayar uang pengganti sebesar uang yang diperoleh dari perbuatan pidana. "Imposing additional penalties to the defendant Surya Darmadi to pay compensation of Rp4,798,706,95