Djan Faridz (PPP), a former minister of Public Housing in the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was in a dispute with the Central Jakarta land office. The dispute concerned the legal status of home ownership in Menteng. Before we could find out more details, Djan Faridz had withdrawn the lawsuit. Recently, we learned of a land dispute involving Djan Faridz’s son related to the ownership of land and buildings covering an area of approximately 2,000 square meters, also in Menteng. If we calculate the average market price around the disputed location, we are talking about assets worth more than Rp150 billion.

It has been over four years since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced that it had a new inquisition on a case of alleged corruption involving State-owned insurance company PT Asuransi Jasa Indonesia (Jasindo). The case concerns the provision of insurance services for the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Body (BP Migas, now SKK-Migas). The KPK named Jasindo’s former President Director Budi Tjahjono a suspect, but the inquisition was stalled for over a year. The KPK resumed examination in July 2018 and Budi was convicted in 2019. Towards the end of April 2021, the KPK announced new suspects in the case and it took the KPK six months to finish the dockets of the suspects. The trials of the suspects started this week. 

We have been waiting for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to ensnare the former Secretary of the Supreme Court Nurhadi for years before the KPK finally named him suspect in a case of corruption. Nurhadi, his son-in-law and another party in the case were found guilty. Later, on Oct. 11, 2021, the Panel of Judges declared Ferdy Yuman, the person who helped Nurhadi hide from law enforcers, guilty as charged. 

Over a decade ago a plantation company in West Kalimantan was found illegally logging inside a conservation area. Six years later, the Company’s director was found guilty and convicted, but before the verdict could be executed, the convict, Maman Suherman bin Jaya Permana, managed to escape. The West Kalimantan High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati), assisted by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), have successfully arrested said convict in South Jakarta, four years after he went into hiding.

Near the end of 2019, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) uncovered a corruption scheme in Muara Enim. It brought down the Regent of Muara Enim one Ahmad Yani (Demokrat) and several other people, including the Chairman of DPRD one Aries HB (PDIP). Not long after that, Ahmad Yani’s Deputy Regent one Juarsah was also named a suspect. In May 2020 Ahmad Yani was found guilty and the other suspects were found guilty soon after. The KPK did not stop developing the case and recently named new suspects. Meanwhile, Juarsah’s trial is ongoing. In the latest hearing held last week, the prosecutors read their demands. 

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) distributed archives dubbed as the Pandora Papers to various parties around the world. The archives contain correspondence and client lists of Trident Trust, a financial company operating in several tax haven countries. Indonesian public figures are among the names contained in the archives. Several national media outlets focused on just a few names, which raised suspicions that the files would be used in the ongoing political battle, especially since the disclosure of the Pandora Papers coincided with the planned implementation of the second volume of Tax Amnesty in Indonesia.

The trial of the tax officials suspected of receiving and soliciting bribes from corporate taxpayers continues. In this week’s hearing, one of the witnesses presented was one of the tax officials who participated in the corruption scheme. Said tax official spoke on the allegations that we have mentioned before.