Wilmar Group is one of the world's largest palm oil trading companies, founded by Singaporean tycoon Kuok Khoon Hong. In 2021-2022, Indonesia faced a severe cooking oil crisis: despite being the world's top palm oil producer, global CPO prices surged, producers prioritized exports, and domestic cooking oil prices rose 40%. The government imposed export controls, including a Domestic Market Obligation requiring producers to supply the local market at capped prices of Rp 14,000 per liter.
Wilmar's subsidiary PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia ignored the DMO, prioritizing high-margin exports over domestic supply. The company bribed Trade Ministry officials, including Director General of Foreign Trade Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana, to obtain export permits without meeting domestic obligations. The scheme was uncovered when the cooking oil shortage persisted despite the controls. The Attorney General's Office estimated state economic losses at Rp 18.3 trillion from the manipulation of export facilities.
In March 2025, a lower court acquitted Wilmar. However, four judges were arrested for accepting bribes to deliver the acquittal. The Supreme Court overturned the acquittal in September 2025, fining five Wilmar subsidiaries Rp 1 billion each and ordering Rp 11.88 trillion ($725 million) in compensation. Authorities had already seized the amount from Wilmar's accounts. Master Parulian Tumanggor, a Wilmar commissioner, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The case became Indonesia's largest corporate corruption scandal.
Wilmar bypassed the Domestic Market Obligation by bribing officials, then paid judges for an acquittal; the Supreme Court overturned it, fining Rp 11.88 trillion.
Wilmar ignored the Domestic Market Obligation during a cooking oil crisis, bribing officials to obtain export permits while domestic prices soared 40%.
The company's bribery scheme involved the Trade Ministry's Director General of Foreign Trade and four judges who were paid to deliver an acquittal.
The Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and ordered Rp 11.88 trillion in compensation, the largest corporate corruption penalty in Indonesian history.
Bribing your way out of a crisis is more expensive than honoring the regulation. What starts as a shortcut becomes an Rp 11.8 trillion liability when the judges are also on the take.
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