INDONESIA: JUDGES RULED ON THE FIRST CROSS-BORDER MONEY LAUNDERING CASE TIED TO TAX EVASION

 Supreme Court of Indonesia in Jakarta

On June 24, 2026, the panel of judges in the Central Jakarta District Court handed down a verdict against Tony Budiman, one of the beneficial owners of Uniflora Prima. The defendant was found guilty under Article 5 of the Indonesian Money Laundering Law of 2010 and sentenced to a 3-year prison term and a fine of IDR 1 million, or, in its alternative, a 190-day prison term. The court found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Budiman accepted or took control of the placement, transfer, payment, grant, deposit, exchange, or utilization of the assets of which were known by him or of which were reasonably alleged as the result of the criminal action.

The trial began in early December last year, following the decision of judicial review of its predicate crime of tax evasion, which had acquired final and permanent legal force (inkracht van gewijsde) on October 23, 2025, where Budiman was sentenced to imprisonment of 3 years and a fine of IDR 634,796,291,500, or in lieu of, a 6-month prison sentence.

Based on court documents, tax investigators of the Central Jakarta Regional Office of the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) found an agreement dated April 14, 2014, between Uniflora Prima, a cocoa manufacturing company based in Jakarta, and Golden Harvest Cocoa Indonesia (GHCI) on the sale of Uniflora’s immovable property for USD 120 million. Payments were made by GHCI in 3 terms:

1. in October 2013, cash payment of USD 20 million to Budiman and Irwan Sudjono as authorized representatives of Uniflora;

2. in December 2013, cash payment of USD 14.5 million to Budiman and Sudjono as authorized representatives of Uniflora; and

3. on April 14, 2014, transfer of USD 85 million to a bank account in Singapore belonging to an entity registered in Guernsey.

Against the Income Tax Law of 1983 and its amendments, Uniflora did not declare this transaction in the 2014 tax return and was convicted of causing tax loss in Indonesia of IDR 317.4 billion.

Under the power granted by Article 74 of the Indonesia Money Laundering Law of 2010, tax investigators started to conduct a money laundering investigation in 2021 following the result of a predicate crime investigation. This became the first transnational money laundering case tied to tax evasion.

DJP, in cooperation with the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) and the Ministry of Law, found evidence of Budiman and Sudjono as beneficial owners of Uniflora. USD 83.5 million of the USD 85 million was transferred the next day to another bank account in Singapore held by an entity registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with Budiman and Sudjono as beneficial owners. In January 2016, the USD 83.5 million fund was transferred in two different transactions to another bank account in Singapore held by another BVI entity, with Budiman (and spouse SRH) and Sudjono (and spouse IFS) as the beneficial owners.

Budiman invested the proceeds of tax evasion in properties in Indonesia and in financial assets in Indonesia and Singapore under his name and his spouse's. These assets have been seized by the court.

To date, Sudjono remains under ongoing money laundering investigations. Based on documents of beneficial ownership of pertinent entities, it has been established that Sudjono declared himself as a holder of a passport of another jurisdiction, and such actions obstruct the progress of the investigation.

In the indictment of Budiman, public prosecutor charged Budiman with Article 3 of Indonesia Money Laundering of 2010 which stipulates that anyone, who places, transfers, forwards, spends, pays, grants, deposits, takes to the abroad, changes the form, changes to the currency or securities or other deeds towards the assets of which are recognized or of which are reasonably alleged as the result of criminal action, such as tax crime, with the purpose to hide or to disguise the origin of assets, shall be subject to be sentenced due to the criminal action of money laundering with the imprisonment for no longer than 20 (twenty) years and fine for no more than IDR 10 billion. However, the court did not agree and decided to charge with Article 5, which imposes a more lenient sentence.

Neither the prosecutor nor Budiman have yet confirmed their decision to appeal. An appeal for a criminal case in Indonesia must be registered no later than seven days after the verdict is announced, or seven days after the notification of the verdict to the defendant who was absent during the reading of the verdict. Directorate General of Taxes, “Kanwil DJP Jakarta Pusat, Kejaksaan dan PPATK Ungkap Skema Pencucian Uang Terpidana Pajak Senilai Rp58,2 Miliar,” October 31, 2025. Disclaimer

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