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.

Last week, the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court held the first hearing on the trial of Eni Maulani Saragih, the former Deputy Chairman of the House Commission VIII of the House of Representative (Golkar), who is a defendant in the Riau Power Plant graft case. The indictment prepared for Eni mentioned that in addition of receiving bribes from Johannes Kotjo, Eni had also received grafts from four businessmen, including the President Director of  PT Smelting Indonesia. PT Smelting quickly announced their rebuttal to the indictment. Separately, the bankruptcy process of PT Sariwangi Agricultural Estate Agency (Sari Wangi AEA Co Ltd – Sariwangi) and its subsidiary PT Maskapai Perkebunan Indorub Sumber Wadung (Indorub) continued when the Panel of Judges declared the Companies insolvency per November 30, 2018. The Companies are deemed incapable to repay their debts.

Last week was an eventful week for the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court as they continued the trials of several important cases, including the case involving former officials of PT Pertamina (Persero), the case that ensnared PT Nusa Konstruksi Enjiniring Tbk (DGIK), and the E-KTP graft case which recently ensnared the notorious advocate Lucas.

Petroselat Ltd, the subsidiary of PT Sugih Energy Tbk (SUGI), as we all know is in insolvency after being declared bankrupt last year. Unlike it’s fast bankruptcy process, the Company’s insolvency process is too complicated. On November 22, 2018, the curator of the insolvency process one Jun Cai filed a new lawsuit against PT Petronusa Bumibakti, also a subsidiary of SUGI and the majority shareholder of the Company. The first hearing of the other lawsuit filed by Petronusa against SKK Migas is scheduled on December 5, 2018.

On November 29, 2018, as scheduled, the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court finally held the first hearing of Eni Maulani Saragih, the former Deputy Chairman of the House Commission VIII of the House of Representative (Golkar), as defendant in the case of alleged corruption related to the construction of the Riau Power Plant. The indictment for Eni mentioned that she received bribes from Johannes Kotjo, but there’s more. The indictment also mentioned Eni received grafts from Samin Tan and three other businesspeople. Eni did not object to the indictment, but she said the indictment was not detailed. She promised to uncover more during the next hearings. This is exciting.

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 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted a sting operation on November 18, 2018 and subsequently named several people as graft suspects including the Regent of Pakpak Bharat one Remigo Yolando Berutu. The KPK has not yet disclosed the identity of the bribee in the case but what we do know is the bribe money was allegedly used to stop the ongoing police investigation on Remigo’s wife. Separately in Jakarta, the KPK held another sting operation in the evening of November 27, 2018, and arrested five individuals in the South Jakarta District Court. By the time we wrote this article, the KPK has not announced the chronology and suspects in the case but the KPK allegedly arrested several judges.

As of today, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is investigating two cases of corruption implicating the Lippo Group. First, is the case of bribery related to Lippo Group’s attempt to end the disputes implicating their companies with the help of a former Registrar of the Central Jakarta District Court one Edy Nasution and the former Secretary of the Supreme Court one Nurhadi Abdurrachman. Second, is the case of bribery involving Billy Sindoro and the former Regent of Bekasi one Neneng Hassanah Yasin. The former allegedly bribed the latter in order to obtain licenses for the Meikarta township project; a project developed by PT Mahkota Sentosa Utama.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) recently read their decisions on a case implicating PT Nippon Indosari Corpindo Tbk (ROTI), producer of fresh bread with the brand Sari Roti. The KPPU deemed the Company guilty for delays in giving notification of acquisition of PT Prima Top Boga.