The trial of the first two defendants in the case of bribery involving Romahurmuziy (Rommy), the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) has come to an end. In the hearing held on August 7, 2019, the Panel of Judges of the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court read their verdicts. The judges declare the two defendants guilty of providing bribes, not only for Rommy but also for the Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, who is also a PPP politician. 

Four years ago, the Commercial Court of the Central Jakarta District Court decided to ratify the peace agreement between PT Sariwangi Agricultural Estate Agency (Sari Wangi AEA Co Ltd – Sariwangi), its subsidiary PT Maskapai Perkebunan Indorub Sumber Wadung (Indorub), and their creditors. It’s a result of months of negotiations in a period of Suspension of Debts Payment (PKPU). But last year, the peace agreement was annulled by the same Commercial Court. Both companies were deemed bankrupt and thus entered insolvency. Those who grew up drinking teas from Sariwangi were in shock. In the last days of the battle, Indorub had to fight alone. They’re also alone when submitting the petition for cassation to the Supreme Court against the cancellation of the peace agreement. Unfortunately for Indorub, the Supreme Court decided to uphold their bankruptcy. The team of curators have begun to distribute assets to the creditors.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has reportedly arrested 11 people few hours ago related to allegation of bribery in the plan to import garlic. KPK yet to release the names, but this might be part of series of pressures mounted toward trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita, a politician from NasDem Party.

It has been over two years since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named the former President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Emirsyah Satar a suspect in the case of bribery along with Soetikno Soedarjo, owner of PT Mugi Rekso Abadi. Now we have progress to report. The case was initially related to the bribery involving Rolls-Royce, which was investigated by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The investigation uncovered a grand scheme of bribery. The KPK worked on the findings and developed a new case—the SFO recently decided to stop their investigation. On August 7, 2019, the KPK announced that the had named Emirsyah and Soetikno as suspects in a case of money laundering and had named one new suspect in the primary case. 

By the end of June 2019, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) carried out a sting operation in several places including the Jakarta High Prosecutors’ Office (Kejati Jakarta) and arrested several people including prosecutors. The KPK named three suspects in the case but decided to “return” two prosecutors detained during the operation to their institution, stating that the prosecutors were involved in a different case. Both the KPK and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) refused to explain further and continue examining witnesses. The examinations conducted after that finally revealed the main case, which started the whole mess. And we recently found out that the other case which brought chaos into the AGO was uncovered because the KPK had accidentally tapped into a bribery plan in another case that occurred in Semarang.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continued the investigation into the corruption scheme involving officials of the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) after the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court convicted the last defendant back in November 2018. The KPK named several suspects since then and the latest batch of suspects was announced last week. At around the same time, the trial of the latest defendant begin and on August 5, 2019, the trial continues. 

It has been almost four years since we were exposed to the internal dispute between the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and their own prosecutor, i.e., the former Chief of Maluku High Prosecutors’ Office (Kajati Maluku) Chuck Suryosumpeno. Prosecutor Chuck was demoted in 2015 for allegedly embezzling the assets recovered from the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case worth Rp1.9 trillion. Chuck fought back and filed several lawsuits. Unfortunately for Chuck, his fight ended with the Assembly of Cassation of the Supreme Court rejecting his petition. Chuck was thus sacked. In October 2018, the Supreme Court’s Assembly of Reconsideration miraculously ruled in favor of Chuck and ordered the AGO to reinstate him, but instead of following the order, the AGO named Chuck a suspect of the aforementioned case. Chuck was named a suspect with three other people—a prosecutor, a notary, and a businessman. Trials of the defendants ended three weeks ago but one defendant is still on the run and the AGO is chasing him. 

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently detained PAN politician Sukiman, who was named a suspect in February 2019. Sukiman is allegedly involved in the case related to the Arfak Mountains. 

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted another Sting Operation on July 31, 2019, and arrested the Director of Finance of PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero). Investigators secured nearly Rp1 billion in cash, which are supposedly bribes for the director. The KPK told the press that they suspect the transaction was not the first. Two suspects were named.

Those with a mobile phone connection in Indonesia would have received messages from anonymous senders offering credit consolidation services to risqué encounters. Some have learned so accustomed to this they simply ignore the spam notifications and carry on with their lives. They might have wondered how these unidentified senders obtained their number, but they have no means of preventing such a violation of privacy.