S$140 million held by convicted Indonesian palm oil tycoon's son to remain seized despite CPIB lapses: Court

CPIB's investigations revealed that substantial funds had flowed from Indonesian companies linked to convicted palm oil tycoon Surya Darmadi into bank accounts held by his son's Singapore-incorporated companies.

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SINGAPORE: A sum of nearly S$140 million (US$109 million) in Singapore bank accounts held by the son of a convicted Indonesian palm oil tycoon will remain under seizure for another 12 months, a court ruled in September.

This is despite "significant procedural lapses" by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) that infringed on the man's right to be heard, according to a judgment made available on Saturday (Oct 3).

The bureau had failed to report the seizure by the deadline, doing so only about 10 months later, which meant it lacked lawful authority to continue exercising control over the funds in the interim.

However, the judge found that the lapses did not warrant the return of the funds, which might be the proceeds of offences, and ordered that they remain under seizure for another 12 months pending High Court proceedings.

CPIB seized nearly S$140 million on May 17, 2023, from four bank accounts held by Mr Bill Darmadi in Singapore.

This came after CPIB conducted investigations into whether Bill had assisted in retaining the criminal proceeds of his father, Surya Darmadi.

Surya was convicted in Indonesia of corruption and money laundering. In February 2023, an Indonesian court sentenced Surya to 15 years in jail and gave him a record fine of 41.9 trillion rupiah (S$3.71 billion).

Surya is the owner of PT Duta Palma Group and chairman of Darmex Agro Group, both Indonesian palm oil conglomerates.

Between 2003 and 2022, he operated palm oil plantation businesses without the required permits, generating substantial illicit profits at significant cost to the Indonesian economy, the judgment stated.

He laundered these profits through companies under his control by diverting funds to foreign entities.

Surya also paid bribes to obtain location permits for his companies to convert forest areas into palm oil plantations.

CPIB's investigations revealed that substantial funds had flowed from Indonesian companies linked to Surya into bank accounts held by Bill's Singapore-incorporated companies, Rich Asian and Palmbridge.

The money later went into Bill's bank accounts in Singapore, the court said.

CPIB seized four accounts held by Bill on May 17, 2023, along with the funds standing to their credit.

Under the law, CPIB was required to report the seizure to the magistrate within one year.

On May 3, 2024, CPIB informed Bill that it intended to report the seizure and seek an extension, and asked whether he intended to object.

On May 29, 2024, Bill's lawyers wrote to CPIB requesting the basis of the intended application so they could advise their client.

CPIB overlooked the request and did not respond. By then, it had also failed to report the seizure by the deadline of May 17, 2024.

Bill's lawyers from Drew & Napier argued that CPIB's failure to report the seizure within the prescribed time rendered the continued seizure illegal and warranted the return of the funds.

District Judge Shen Wanqin accepted the prosecution's submission that the earlier delay no longer warranted the return of the funds.

CPIB lacked the lawful authority to continue exercising control over the funds from May 17, 2024 until it filed the report on Mar 24, 2025.

However, the filing of the report brought the seizure within the court's supervisory jurisdiction, even if it did not retrospectively validate CPIB's control during the period between May 2024 and March 2025.

"The earlier period of unlawful control therefore does not, by itself, warrant the return of the funds now," said Judge Shen.

"Although CPIB had been in wrongful control of the seized property during the period of delayed reporting, the Court of Appeal held that once the seizure was reported, the delay ceased to provide a basis for judicial review seeking its release."

Judge Shen said her conclusion did not diminish the significance of CPIB's non-compliance.

"The lapse was significant and should not be repeated," she said.

Judge Shen found that Bill's right to be heard had been infringed in relation to the 2025 extension application. CPIB neither notified him of the application nor furnished him with the associated report.

Without notice of the application, Bill had no opportunity to make representations before the order was made. He also could not assess the grounds on which CPIB sought continued seizure, despite his lawyers expressly requesting that information.

CPIB furnished him with the report only on Apr 30, 2026, more than a year later.

Bill's lawyers had argued that there was no reasonable basis to think the investigations remained ongoing, because they had not progressed substantively since 2023.

Judge Shen rejected this, saying the investigations concerned proceeds of foreign corruption offences channelled into Singapore and required CPIB to seek the cooperation of overseas authorities.

"Their progress therefore depends, at least in part, on responses from those authorities," she said, pointing to correspondence CPIB had with overseas authorities between 2023 and 2025.

The evidence traced funds from Indonesian companies linked to Surya into the accounts of Palmbridge and Rich Asian, said the judge.

The evidence also traced "substantial sums" from Palmbridge and Rich Asian into Bill's bank accounts, she added.

She found that the continued seizure of most of the funds was justified, as there was a reasonable basis to think they were proceeds of an offence.

The exception was about US$8.7 million, which could not presently be traced to fund flows linked to Surya's criminal conduct. However, this sum will also remain under seizure because it is the subject of pending High Court proceedings.

"CPIB's handling of the seizure was attended by significant procedural lapses," concluded the judge.

"Its failure to notify Bill of the 2025 extension application and furnish him with the 2025 report infringed his right to be heard. Its failure to report the seizure by 17 May 2024 also meant that it lacked lawful authority to continue exercising control over the funds until the 2025 report was filed on 24 March 2025," said Judge Shen.

"These safeguards serve important purposes. The right to be heard affords a person with an interest in seized property a meaningful opportunity to address its continued seizure, while the reporting requirement ensures that continued seizure is subject to timely judicial oversight."

Bill has since been given a full opportunity to address the factual and legal bases for continued seizure, she said.

The High Court hearing will take place at a later date.

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CPIB 的调查显示，与被定罪的棕榈油大亨苏里亚·达尔马迪有关联的印尼公司有大量资金流入其子在新加坡注册的公司所持有的银行账户。

新加坡国家法院的资料照片。

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：一名被判有罪的印尼棕榈油大亨之子在新加坡银行账户中持有的近 1.4 亿新元（1.09 亿美元）资金将继续被扣押 12 个月，法院于 9 月份作出裁决。

尽管贪污调查局 (CPIB) 存在“重大程序失误”，侵犯了该男子的申辩权，但根据周六（10 月 3 日）公布的判决书，这一情况仍然发生了。

该局未能按时报告查获情况，大约 10 个月后才报告，这意味着在此期间，该局缺乏继续对这些资金行使控制权的合法授权。

然而，法官认为这些疏忽不足以构成归还资金的理由，因为这些资金可能是犯罪所得，并下令将这些资金继续扣押 12 个月，等待高等法院的诉讼程序。

2023年5月17日，新加坡贪污调查局从比尔·达马迪先生在新加坡的四个银行账户中查获了近1.4亿新元。

此前，贪污调查局对比尔是否协助其父苏里亚·达尔马迪保管犯罪所得进行了调查。

苏里亚在印度尼西亚被判犯有贪污和洗钱罪。2023年2月，印尼一家法院判处苏里亚15年监禁，并处以创纪录的41.9万亿印尼盾（约合37.1亿新元）罚款。

Surya 是 PT Duta Palma 集团的所有者，也是 Darmex Agro 集团的董事长，这两家公司都是印尼棕榈油集团。

判决书指出，2003 年至 2022 年间，他在未获得必要许可证的情况下经营棕榈油种植园业务，非法获利颇丰，给印尼经济造成了重大损失。

他通过控制的公司将这些利润洗白，将资金转移到外国实体。

苏里亚还行贿以获得其公司将森林地区改造成棕榈油种植园的选址许可。

CPIB 的调查显示，大量资金从与 Surya 有关联的印尼公司流入 Bill 在新加坡注册成立的公司 Rich Asian 和 Palmbridge 的银行账户。

法庭称，这笔钱后来转入了比尔在新加坡的银行账户。

2023年5月17日，贪污调查局查封了比尔名下的四个账户及其账户中的资金。

根据法律规定，贪污调查局必须在一年内向地方法官报告查获情况。

2024年5月3日，贪污调查局告知比尔，他们打算报告此次查获并申请延期，并询问他是否打算提出异议。

2024 年 5 月 29 日，比尔的律师致函贪污调查局，要求了解拟申请的理由，以便为他们的客户提供建议。

贪污调查局忽略了这一请求，没有作出回应。到那时，它也未能在2024年5月17日的截止日期前报告此次查获事件。

Bill 的律师来自 Drew & Napier 律师事务所，他们辩称 CPIB 未在规定时间内报告扣押情况，导致扣押行为违法，因此应归还资金。

地方法官沈婉琴接受了检方的说法，即之前的延误已不再构成返还资金的理由。

从 2024 年 5 月 17 日至 2025 年 3 月 24 日提交报告期间，贪污调查局没有合法权力继续控制这些资金。

然而，即使该报告没有追溯性地证实贪污调查局在 2024 年 5 月至 2025 年 3 月期间的控制权，该报告的提交也使扣押行为进入了法院的监督管辖范围。

“因此，仅凭早前的非法控制时期本身，并不足以构成现在归还资金的理由，”沈法官说。

“虽然贪污调查局在延迟报告期间非法控制了被扣押的财产，但上诉法院认为，一旦扣押事件被报告，延迟就不再构成司法审查并要求释放财产的理由。”

沈法官表示，她的结论并没有减轻贪污调查局不合规行为的严重性。

“这次失误性质严重，不应该再次发生，”她说。

沈法官认定，比尔在2025年延期申请一事上，其申辩权受到了侵犯。贪污调查局既未通知他该申请，也未向他提供相关报告。

由于事先未收到申请通知，比尔没有机会在命令下达前提出申辩。尽管他的律师明确要求了解相关信息，但他也无法评估贪污调查局寻求继续扣押的理由。

贪污调查局直到 2026 年 4 月 30 日才向他提供报告，时隔一年多。

比尔的律师辩称，没有合理的理由认为调查仍在进行中，因为自 2023 年以来，调查没有取得实质性进展。

沈法官驳回了这一说法，称调查涉及将外国贪污犯罪所得输送到新加坡，需要贪污调查局寻求海外当局的合作。

“因此，他们的进展至少在一定程度上取决于这些当局的回应，”她说道，并指出贪污调查局在 2023 年至 2025 年间与海外当局的往来信函。

法官表示，证据显示，与苏里亚有关联的印尼公司的资金流入了Palmbridge和Rich Asian的账户。

她还补充说，证据还显示，从 Palmbridge 和 Rich Asian 有“大量资金”流入了 Bill 的银行账户。

她认为继续扣押大部分资金是合理的，因为有合理的理由认为这些资金是犯罪所得。

例外情况是约870万美元，目前无法追溯其与苏里亚犯罪行为相关的资金流向。然而，由于这笔款项正处于高等法院的待决诉讼程序中，因此也将继续被扣押。

法官总结道：“贪污调查局在处理此次查扣事件时存在严重的程序失误。”

“该机构未能将2025年延期申请通知比尔，也未能向他提供2025年报告，侵犯了他获得听证的权利。此外，该机构未能在2024年5月17日之前报告扣押情况，也意味着在2025年3月24日提交2025年报告之前，该机构缺乏继续控制资金的合法授权，”沈法官说道。

“这些保障措施发挥着重要的作用。申辩权使对被扣押财产有利害关系的人有机会就财产的持续扣押提出有意义的申辩，而报告要求则确保持续扣押受到及时的司法监督。”

她说，比尔已经获得了充分的机会来阐述继续扣押的事实和法律依据。

高等法院的听证会将在稍后举行。

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