Indonesia's Supreme Court overturns acquittals of palm oil firms over misconduct
FILE PHOTO: General view of palm oil plantation in Pelalawan regency, Riau province, Indonesia, April 27, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
JAKARTA :Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned the acquittals of Wilmar Group and two other palm oil firms over allegations of misconduct in securing palm oil export permits in 2022, according to court documents reviewed on Thursday.
Prosecutors had appealed the earlier ruling that cleared Wilmar, Musim Mas Group and Permata Hijau Group, following the arrest of judges accused of receiving bribes to deliver favorable verdicts.
An employee of Wilmar was also detained in connection with the bribery allegations, the Attorney General's Office said.
Wilmar Group paid 11.8 trillion rupiah ($705.11 million) to Indonesia's Attorney General's Office as a "security deposit", which the Supreme Court said would be treated as part of the fine to be transferred to the state treasury.
In a written response to Reuters, Wilmar said that it respects the decision and maintains that its actions complied with prevailing regulations and were conducted in good faith.
($1 = 16,735.0000 rupiah)
