The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted a Sting Operation in the evening of November 27, 2018 and arrested six people in the South Jakarta District Court. On November 28, 2018, towards midnight, the KPK announced the chronology of the operation and subsequently named several suspects in the case, including two judges of the same district court and one registrar from a different district court. The trials of the defendants begin this month.

The dispute between PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara (Persero) (KBN) and PT Karya Citra Nusantara (KCN) will not be over anytime soon. The Government through the Task Force for the Acceleration and Effectiveness of Economic Policy Implementation chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution did give recommendations on the dispute, but the dispute has been taken to the criminal realm. The President Director of KBN one Sattar Taba is under investigation. All of this are happening in addition to the examination of the lawsuit filed by KBN.

After being delayed for several days, on April 23, 2019, the Panel of Judges of the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court read the verdict for the former Minister of Social Affairs Idrus Marham was stands trial as a defendant in the Riau Power Plant graft case. The judges declared Idrus guilty but sentenced him with a lighter punishment compared to the punishment demanded by the prosecutors. Several hours after the court read their verdict, the KPK announced that they had named the President Director of PT PLN (Persero) Sofyan Basir a suspect.

Three years ago, investigators of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) raided the residence of one Edison Marudut Marsadauli Siahaan. Edison, who is a businessman and a cadre of the Democratic Party, is involved in a bribery related to the conversion of forest land that had ensnared the disgraced Governor of Riau Annas Maamun. Three years has passed and recently we learned that Surya Darmadi, the owner of Duta Palma Group whose name was mentioned repeatedly for allegedly providing bribes in the case, had filed a lawsuit against the KPK. Surya filed a pre-trial lawsuit questioning the KPK’s decision to name him as suspect.

Last week the Central Jakarta District Court registered a lawsuit on Suspension of Debts Payment (PKPU) filed by PT Kalimantan Berlian Sejahtera, a contractor, against PT Karya Makmur Abadi (a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad – KLK). The lawsuit is interesting because we thought that the KLK was doing okay in the palm oil business so far, but perhaps big companies are not immune to lawsuits.

In mid-2018, PT Maspion filed a lawsuit at the Surabaya State Administrative Court (PTUN Surabaya) against the Mayor of Surabaya. The lawsuit was filed because the city government had refused the company’s request to extend the validity of the certificate on Rights to Build (HGB) that applied to land and buildings used by the company. The city government apparently wanted to use the land for a project and thought that Maspion did not use its rights as it should have. Moreover, the city government claims that the Company submitted the application for the extension of the validity period of the HGB beyond the time limit specified in the regulation. But Maspion has a different version of the story. At the end of March 2019, the East Java State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) ruled in favor of Maspion, but the city government refuses to accept defeat.

On February 1, 2019, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Samin Tan, owner of PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal Tbk (BORN), a suspect of bribery. Samin was investigated after the KPK looked into the allegations of corruption related to the construction of the Riau Power Plant; a case that ensnared conglomerate Johannes Kotjo and former Minister of Social Affairs Idrus Marham (Golkar). We all know, however, that Samin had nothing to do with the power plant. Samin allegedly bribed Eni Maulani Saragih (who is the key person in the power plant graft case) in an attempt to save his other company PT Asmin Koalindo Tuhup. Recently, the KPK issued a new travel ban on Samin and his director. The KPK also continued with the examination of several witnesses. We later learned that Samin tried to file a pre-trial lawsuit only to withdraw it not long after.

The Bank Century bailout case is arguably one of the biggest corruption cases. Robert Tantular is the name we cannot forget for his affiliation in this case. This case has only brought down the former Deputy of Bank Indonesia (BI) for Monetary and Foreign Exchange Management Division one Budi Mulya, while the owner of Bank Century Robert Tantular was snared with four different regular criminal charges. Robert surprised everyone at the end of 2018 when he was released on parole though he’s supposed to spend over 20 years in prison. After he was released, he submitted a Judicial Review petition at the Constitutional Court questioning his trials and its procedures which he deemed unfair.

Two months ago we reported that the North Sumatera Regional Police (Polda Sumut) had named one Musa Idi Shah (or Idishah – familiarly known as Dody), the brother of the current Vice Governor of North Sumatera one Musa Rajek Shah (or Rajekshah – familiarly known as Ijeck), a suspect of violation in the process of conversion of protected forests land into palm plantations. Last week, the police escalated the status of the case’s investigation on Ijeck into inquisition, although Ijeck is still a witness today. The police scheduled an examination several days after the inquisition process was announced but Ijeck did not answer the summon. The police said they would schedule another examination soon.