Last week the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) released its performance report for the first half of 2020. In addition to focusing on assisting the National Economic Recovery program (PEN) due to COVID-19, the KPK claims to have saved up to Rp10.4 trillion potential losses on regional finances. However, unfortunately, the public does not know much about this function that the KPK has.

Towards the end of last week, representatives of 16 workers unions (SP/SB) reportedly agreed to support the deliberation of the Omnibus Bill on Job Creation. But there’s a catch.

The Government has been planning to establish an insurance holding and save PT Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero). The authorized State-Owned Enterprise to lead the sector is PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia (Persero) (BPUI). The plan is listed in the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN), following the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government would establish a subsidiary and provide a State Capital Injection (PMN) to save Jiwasraya. Meanwhile, the trial of the Jiwasraya graft case continues.

It has been a while since the last time we reported on the dispute over the loan agreement provided by a syndicate of banks led by PT Bank PDFCI to PT Geria Wijaya Prestige (controlled by the Karjadi family). The agreement turned into a complicated maze of legal battles in both civil and criminal realms. It has produced dozens of conflicting court verdicts. Two of the Karjadi brothers were named suspects in a criminal case for allegedly committing fraud as a result of a police report submitted by Artha Graha patron Tomy Winata. They were found guilty on January 22, 2020, only to be released several months later by the High Court. Recently we learned that the Supreme Court had overturned the High Court’s decision, and one of the Karjadi brothers said they would file a Reconsideration.

Several months ago we reported on the performance of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) under the new leadership. The focus was on the function of the KPK with additional supervision from its Supervisory Board (Dewas). On August 18, 2020, the KPK announced its Performance Report for the first Semester of 2020.

Less than two weeks ago, various media outlets began covering the proceedings faced by Kris Taenar Wiluan—the Executive Chairman and CEO of KS Energy Limited (SGX:578) (KSE)—and his aide. At the time, KSE announced that it would still keep Kris in his position. Nevertheless, a new problem emerged, and Kris filed his resignation.

Over six years ago, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) uncovered a case of bribery given for the former Regent of Bogor Rachmat Yasin. Rahmat and several other people were found guilty. Rahmat finished his jail term last year. Less than two months after that, the KPK announced that it had begun a new investigation as a result of the development of its previous investigation and had named Rachmat a suspect in two different cases. Last week, the KPK finally moved to detain Rachmat, and this usually means that the suspect would be prosecuted soon. What happened to Rachmat is not unusual. It reminds us of several other high profile cases on which the suspects faced a similar situation with Rachmat. 

In April 2019, after three years of investigation into bribery related to the conversion of forest land in Riau, the verdicts became legally binding. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced new suspects, including a corporate suspect PT Palma Satu and its owner Surya Darmadi (Duta Palma Group). In the last week of June 2020, a suspect’s trial began in the Corruption Court of the Pekanbaru District Court. The latest hearing presented Zulkifli Hasan as a witness. 

The trial on the corruption in State-owned insurance company PT Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero) continues. Each week, we learn new things thanks to the account of witnesses. Last week we learned that Heru Hidayat, much like Benny Tjokrosaputro, used nominees in committing his crimes. This week, one of the nominees pleaded to the Court that her account be returned, stating that she never received feedback from Heru. The Court also confirmed that Joko Hartono had used the same scheme. We also learned that the board of directors was allowed to make changes to investment guidelines to save the Company. 

In mid-June 2020, Freddy Widjaja—son of the late tsar of Sinar Mas Group Eka Tjipta Widjaja—filed a civil lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court, demanding his share of the inheritance. The news was widely reported because Freddy had mentioned several subsidiaries of the group in his lawsuit. Soon after the lawsuit was made public, the mentioned companies’ stock prices weakened, with some having to provide information to the IDX. The parties went through a mediation process, but no conclusion could be reached. Freddy withdrew his lawsuit, stating that the petition was flawed. He filed a new lawsuit on August 11, 2020. This time, he listed more defendants and also explained his stance.