We’re close to the end of the year 2018, government and business activities have begun to slow down. The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU), however, still has dozens of ongoing examinations of cases.

Two years have passed since we reported on the family feud in Shinta Group, but problems remain. On December 4, 2018, the Commercial Court of the Central Jakarta District Court registered a bankruptcy lawsuit filed by senior advocates Rudhy Lontoh and Edward Lontoh (Rudhy’s son) against the Hermijanto siblings, who they used to represent when the examination of the feud was ongoing in the Tangerang District Court.

Over a year ago the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced that they had a new inquisition on a case 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 only resume examination in July this year. Budi was immediately detained and his trial began on December 5, 2018.

Two years ago, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) began the inquisition on the case of corruption involving the Directorate General of Horticulture in the Ministry of Agriculture. But the process took longer than predicted. The three suspects were only prosecuted in July 2018. The KPK prosecutors had indicted two suspects in the case and their verdicts were read on December 3, 2018.

The Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court recently listened to the prosecutors’ demands for Edward Soeryadjaya, son of William Soeryadjaya and founder of PT Sugih Energy Tbk (SUGI). Edward is standing trial on the case of misplaced investments made by Dana Pensiun Pertamina. The prosecutors demanded the Panel of Judges to sentence Edward to 18 years in prison. Edward is 70 years old.

For more than a year, the police have focused on responding to reports on crimes related to refined sugar trade. In 2017 the police named two suspects from two different companies, one of them was convicted in mid-2018. Last month, in response to a number of reports submitted by sugar cane farmers under the auspices of the Indonesian Sugar Cane Farmer (Aptri) organization, the police announced that they had named three other suspects related to a similar case. At the time of the incident, one of the suspects was a director at PT Permata Dunia Sukses Utama (PDSU), a company affiliated with PT FKS Multi Agro Tbk (FISH)—PDSU announced his dismissal last week.

On November 21, 2018, the South Jakarta District Court registered a default lawsuit filed by PT Bank Artha Graha Internasional Tbk (INPC) against one Jack Mulyana Husodho and five other parties. Bank Artha Graha accuses the parties of having defaulted and demands a compensation of nearly Rp1 trillion. The published information on the lawsuit does not provide details on the cause of the dispute, but there is something interesting linked to the parties and also linked to the ongoing dispute between PT Bank China Construction Bank Indonesia Tbk (MCOR), Fireworks Ventures Limited, PT Geria Wijaya Prestige (GWP), and Bank Artha Graha’s patron Tomy Winata.