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) continues. The agreement turned into a complicated maze of legal battle in both civil and criminal realms, which 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. That said, we will not see closure yet. By the end of 2019, the Jakarta High Court decided to decline Tomy Winata’s appeal petition in the tort lawsuit. This means the decision of the Central Jakarta District Court (which declined Tomy’s lawsuit) remains valid. The North Jakarta District Court also had decided against Tomy and MCOR. In addition, one of the Karjadi brothers chose to appeal. 

The case of alleged corruption in State-owned insurance company PT Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero) is getting political. As of today, there are already three Working Committee (Panja) established by three House Commission of the House of Representatives to investigate the case. There is also one proposal from two factions to establish a more serious Special Committee (Pansus). With a large number of parties trying to get involved, what kind of results can we expect from the overall investigation process, aside from the ongoing criminal investigation?

Evi Firmansyah has on Monday (Feb 3) resigned as president director of PT Pool Advista Indonesia Tbk (POOL) amidst special investigative audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) on scandalous investments of Asabri, a state owned insurance firm for military and the national police.

Back in April 2018, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named 38 former members of the North Sumatera DPRD as suspects as a result of development of investigation into the case of corruption that brought down the disgraced Governor of North Sumatera Gatot Pujo Nugroho. The KPK had previously named 12 politicians as suspects in the same case during the span of 2015 to 2016. The trials of the suspects ended in August 2019, but the KPK did not stop the investigation. Last week, nearly two years after the last announcement, the KPK announced that it had named 14 new suspects in the case, all are former members of the DPRD. With the announcement, so far the case had ensnared 64 former members of the DPRD. Unbelievable.

The Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court recently listened to the prosecutors’ demands for two defendants in the case of corruption involving the Governor of Riau Islands Nurdin Basirun. Earlier this week, the same court read its decision for the briber in the graft case involving officials of PT Perkebunan Nusantara III (Persero) (PTPN III).

December 2019 was the deadline for the Government’s cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia (WWF Indonesia). The cooperation has been ongoing since 1998, and before the deadline, all physical and administrative activities must be completed before the collaboration between the two parties can be continued. Unexpectedly, however, the Government decided not to resume the cooperation. The most surprising reason for us is the fact that WWF Indonesia is claimed to be involved with the Company allegedly responsible for the 2019 forest fires in Jambi.

In January 2016, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted a sting operation that led to the arrest of the then member of the House Commission V of the House of Representatives from PDI-P Damayanti Wisnu Putranti. The sting operation uncovered a complicated corruption scheme related to the construction of the Trans-Seram project using aspiration funds of the members of the House of Representatives. The case ensnared dozens of people, including several politicians, all from different political parties. The investigation and inquisition into the case continue to this day. We almost forgot that the KPK still has one suspect left to be prosecuted, and recently, one of the convicts decided to file for Reconsideration (PK).

After several months of quarrel, which resulted in several lawsuits in two different district courts including two reports to the police, the dispute between Kusnadi Rahardja (the founder of Boga Group) and Sushi-Tei Indonesia is finally resolved with peace. Along with the agreement between the parties, all lawsuits and police reports are reportedly withdrawn. This is good news for the business affected by the news of the dispute, but how exactly the parties decided to end their dispute?

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police (Bareskrim Polri) has been investigating allegations of corruption in the cooperation between PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) and BP Migas (now Satuan Kerja Khusus Pelaksana Kegiatan Usaha Hulu Minyak dan Gas Bumi or SKK Migas) since 2014. Three suspects were named, but since then, nothing has happened. The Police did try to expedite the dockets of the case to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) several years ago. Still, the AGO returned the dockets because one of the suspects, Honggo Wendratno, is nowhere to be found. Finding Honggo has been a challenge for the Police. So much so they came to an agreement with the AGO for in absentia prosecution.