Marcella Santoso's Track Record, Action Dancer, Indonesia Dark, and Petition for the Draft of the TNI Law to Secure Corruption

The Shiro Corporation - This is the background of Marcella Santoso, a lawyer who was implicated in the case of obstruction of corruption investigation into CPO exports being investigated by the Attorney General's Office.

Latest, Marcella made a shocking revelation about a number of issues that caused a stir in Indonesia some time ago, namely the Indonesia Dark action and the petition regarding the draft law on the TNI (Indonesian National Army).

It turns out that Marcella is the actor behind the issue regarding the TNI Bill as well as the Indonesia Dark action on social media.

This was revealed in a video of his confession played during a press conference on the seizure of funds related to the CPO export corruption case at the Attorney General's Office circular building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.

It is not just about the Indonesia Dark issue and the TNI Bill, Marcella has also become an actor behind negative issues regarding the Attorney General, the young criminal investigator prosecutors, up to the investigation director, as well as issues related to the Prabowo administration.

• Lagat Bos Buzzer Muzakki Before Being Arrested by Kejagung After Receiving Rp864 Million from Marcella Santoso

"I am aware that during the handling of this case, there were posts that had nothing to do with the case being handled," Marcella said through a video recording.

"Among other things, the public prosecutor's personal life issues, Mr. Jampidsus's issues, Mr. Dirdik's issues, even there are also government issues concerning Mr. President Prabowo Subianto, such as the petition for the Military Bill and Dark Indonesia," he added.

Marcella did not mention the specific contents of those items in detail.

However, in his recorded statement, he admitted to feeling regret.

I also mentioned that there was content produced by his team without further review from him.

"I deeply regret and fully realize that no matter what and how it happened, whether it was my negligence for not double-checking the content, or my negligence and failure to review and re-examine as well as focus on what I conveyed," he said.

Nevertheless, Marcella emphasized that there is no personal hatred towards the prosecution institution or the government.

"I honestly never felt any dislike or personal hatred towards the institution, or towards the government, or towards individuals," he said.

Marcella even claimed to have praised the performance of the investigators.

"Because in my chat with the institution, include it in the examination report (BAP). One of them contains a conversation between me and my colleague. And, I stated that it would also be good for these law enforcement officers to be like Mr. Febrie (Jampidsus)," he said.

The apology was expressed at the end of the statement, accompanied by a trembling voice and sobs.

"As a human being, I can only ask for forgiveness. I hope that the pain, the discomfort experienced by the parties involved and affected will be restored," Marcella said.

As is known, Marcella Santoso is one of four people who have been designated by the Attorney General's Office in relation to obstruction of investigation handling cases at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

The other three suspects are Advocate Junaidi Saibih (JS), another one is Tian Bahtiar (TB), the News Director of JakTV, and Muhammad Adhia Muzakki as the head of the Cyber Army team.

The Director of Investigations at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Abdul Qohar said that the designation of four people as suspects was made after his side conducted examinations and found sufficient evidence.

Further, Qohar explained that this matter is an extension of the case involving alleged bribery and/or gratification behind the acquittal or release of three defendants accused of corruption related to the export of crude palm oil (CPO).

In the development of the case, it was found that the suspects had obstructed the investigation and prosecution of the corruption case involving the management of tin commodity trading in the Mining Business License (IUP) area at PT Timah Tbk from 2015 to 2022.

Not only in that case, they were also mentioned as being involved in obstructing the investigation into the sugar import case which implicated former Trade Minister Tom Lembong.

"There was a collusion carried out by MS and JS together with TB, directly or indirectly, in the tin corruption case and sugar imports on behalf of Tom Lembong," explained Qohar.

I have added that the suspects allegedly colluded, creating a negative image of the Attorney General's Office handling the Tin and Sugar Import cases.

"The actions of TB are personal. There are indications that TB abused his position as the News Director at JakTV," revealed Abdul Qohar.

For their actions, the suspects were charged under Article 21 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 item 1 of the Criminal Code.

Marcella Santoso's Record

Marcella Santoso is a lawyer at the Ariyanto Arnaldo Law Firm.

In her profile on the law firm's website, Marcella holds the position of junior partner.

I obtained a bachelor's degree up to a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (FH UI).

A law degree was obtained by completing studies from 2002 to 2006. Then a master's in notarization from 2008 to 2010.

Marcella Santoso then became the 295th doctor produced by the Graduate Program of Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia on July 25, 2022.

I hold a doctorate with a dissertation titled 'Letter of Village Head as Evidence of Land Ownership (A Normative Study on Court Decisions Regarding the Use of Village Head Letters as the Basis for Land Ownership)'.

During the obstruction of investigation case hearing in the murder of Brigadier J, Marcella managed to draw public attention.

At that time, he became the lawyer for two defendants, namely Arif Rachman Arifin, a former Deputy Head of B Biro Paminal Divisi Propam Polri with the rank of AKBP; and Baiquni Wibowo, a former PS Kasubbag Riksa Baggak Etika Rowabprof Divpropam Polri with the rank of Kompol.

Arif and Baiquni are charged with also obstructing the Yosua murder case. One of them is related to the disappearance of the CCTV recordings.

Marcella is quite active in defending her client. One instance was when she cross-examined the Public Prosecutor (JPU) who was examining the witness, a Daily Hire Worker (PHL) from the Polri Propam Division named Ariyanto, during the trial on December 8, 2022.

Suspect Bribing Judges

In addition to the case of obstructing the investigation, Marcella also became a suspect for bribing the Chief of the South Jakarta District Court, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta alias MAN, and three judges, Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharudin, and Ali Muhtarom.

Marcella Santoso was named a suspect along with lawyer Aryanto alias AR.

The Investigative Director of the Supreme Prosecution Office of the Attorney General, Abdul Qohar, revealed that Marcella Santoso and Aaryanto are suspected of giving bribes and/or gratification to Muhammad Arif Nuryanta amounting to Rp 60 billion.

The giving of bribes is intended so that three palm oil corporations entangled in export CPO corruption are acquitted or given a fine.

The three corporations are CPO producers Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group.

The bribe money of IDR 60 million was handed over by Marcella Santoso and Aryanto to Muhammad Arif Nuryanta through an intermediary Wahyu Gunawan.

Wahyu Gunawan is the Deputy Chief Judge for Civil Cases at PN Jakarta Utara.

"At that time, Wahyu Gunawan was given a payment of 50,000 USD by Muhamad Arif Nuryanta as a connection fee from Muhamad Arif Nuryanta. So Wahyu Gunawan also received his share after the money was handed over," Qohar revealed.

Then, Arif pointed out three judges to handle the case.

The Ketiganya are namely Ketiganya yakni Djuyamto as the Chair of the Panel, Ali Muhtarom as an AdHoc Judge, and Agam Syarif Baharudin as a Panel Judge.

"After the issuance of the letter confirming the trial, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta called DJU (Djuyamto) as the chair of the panel and ASB as a member," explained Abdul Qohar.

Muhammad Arif Nuryanta then provided dollars which, when converted to rupiah, amounted to Rp 4.5 billion.

"The money was given as payment for reviewing the case files, and Muhammad Arif Nuryanta conveyed this to the two individuals so that the case would be settled," he explained.

After receiving money from Arif, Agam is said by Qohar to have put it into a goody bag which was then distributed evenly among himself, Djuyamto, and Ali.

Further explained by Qohar, in mid-September or October 2024, Arif Nuryanta returned money to Djuyamto amounting to Rp 18 billion.

The billions of rupiah were then distributed again by Djuyamto to Agam and Ali in front of the BRI Bank area in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta.

"Dengan porsi pembagian sebagai berikut, ASB menerima sebesar uang dollar jika dirupiahkan sebesar Rp 4,5 miliar, kemudian DJU menerima uang dollar atau jika dirupiahkan sebesar Rp 6 miliar, dan AL menerima uang berupa dollar Amerika jika dirupiahkan setara Rp 5 miliar," kata Qohar.

As a result, if totaled, the money received by the three suspects regarding the management of this case amounts to Rp 22.5 billion.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office finally investigated the irregularities related to the acquittal verdict.

Initially, the KPK ( Corruption Eradication Commission ) designated four people as suspects.

Empat tersangka tersebut adalah MAN alias Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, yang kini menjabat sebagai Ketua Pengadilan Negeri Jakarta Selatan, WG yang kini merupakan panitera muda di Pengadilan Negeri Jakarta Utara.

Kemudian, Marcella Santoso dan Ariyanto berprofesi sebagai advokat.

During its investigation, the KPK also named three other individuals as suspects. They were members of the panel of judges who issued an acquittal in that case.

The panel consists of Djuyamto as the Chair of the Panel, Ali Muhtarom as an AdHoc Judge, and Agam Syarif Baharudin as an Associate Judge.

In this case of CPO export bribery, investigators from the KPK seized an amount of 4,700 Singapore dollars from Marcella's house.

Sebagian artikel ini telah tayang di Tribunnews.com dengan judul Here are the Profiles of 2 Lawyers Allegedly Offering a Bribe to Chief Judge of South Jakarta District Court Arif Nuryanta for Rp60 Billion