Jakarta. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) detained three judges on Sunday evening over allegations that they accepted bribes in exchange for acquitting three companies accused of illegally exporting crude palm oil (CPO).

The corporate defendants in the high-profile case are Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group.

Prosecutors identified the three suspects as judges Agam Syarif Baharuddin, Ali Muhtarom, and Djuyamto.

“After questioning seven witnesses, we gathered sufficient evidence to name the three judges as suspects,” AGO’s Director of Investigations Abdul Qohar said during a press conference early Monday.

The judges are accused of receiving billions of rupiah in bribes from Ariyanto, a lawyer representing the companies.

“They were fully aware that the payments were intended to secure a favorable ruling,” Abdul said.

Their arrests bring the total number of suspects in the case to seven. Previously, prosecutors had named South Jakarta District Court clerk Wahyu Gunawan, defense attorneys Marcella Santoso and Ariyanto, and former South Jakarta District Court Chief Muhammad Arif Nuryanta as suspects.

According to Abdul, the judges initially received Rp 4.5 billion ($267,967) in 2024, funneled through Arif Nuryanta. The money, reportedly delivered in goody bags, was distributed among the three judges.

In a second transaction in September 2024, the judges allegedly received an additional Rp 18 billion ($1 million) in US dollars.

The investigation began after the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court, presided over by Judge Djuyamto, issued a controversial ruling on March 19. The court found that the companies had exported CPO without the required government permits but ruled that their actions did not fall under criminal law, leading to their acquittal.

The court also ordered prosecutors to restore the companies’ reputations.

Prior to the ruling, prosecutors had demanded hefty fines from the companies -- Rp 11.8 trillion ($702.7 million) from Wilmar Group, Rp 4.8 trillion ($285.8 million) from Musim Mas Group, and Rp 937 billion ($55.8 million) from Permata Hijau Group.

AGO Spokesman Harli Siregar said prosecutors have already seized Rp 1.4 trillion ($83 million) in cash and dozens of luxury vehicles from the companies, with the funds now held in a government account.

The three companies were accused of violating a temporary CPO export ban imposed by then-President Joko Widodo in 2022, during a nationwide cooking oil shortage. Prosecutors allege that the illegal exports cost the state Rp 18.3 trillion, as the government had to heavily subsidize domestic cooking oil prices to offset the crisis.

In an earlier phase of the case, five individuals -- including prominent market analyst Lin Che Wei and a top official from the Trade Ministry -- were convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to three years in January 2023.

Other convicted defendants include former Director General of International Trade at the Trade Ministry Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana and business executives Master Parulian Tumanggor, Stanley MA, and Pierre Togar Sitanggang.