It has been three 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 demanding his old position. But Chuck’s fight ended on the stage of cassation with the Assembly of Cassation of the Supreme Court rejecting his petition. After that, Chuck was officially dismissed from his position and sacked from the institution. In October 2018, the Supreme Court’s Assembly of Reconsideration miraculously decided in favor of Chuck and ordered the AGO to reinstate his position. But instead of following the order, the AGO named Chuck a suspect on the mentioned case.

On November 13, 2018, Yohanes Prawira Searjaya a businessman from East Java, published a warning in Kompas—Yohanes is represented by his legal counsels from Yayat Riyanto & Partners law office. The warning is related to a dispute on an 8,511 square meters of land with the certificate of ownership (SHM) No. 01880/Rawamangun Pulo Gadung. The parties mentioned in the announcement are not high profile figures, but the dispute deserves attention because it has been going on for over a decade.

In July 2018, the Constitutional Court decided to prohibit political party from becoming members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD). In response, the General Election Commission (KPU) issued a KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 26/2018 (which also revised PKPU No. 14/2018) and canceled the nomination of several individuals, including Oesman Sapta Odang (OSO), the current leader of the DPD who is also the Chairman of Hanura. OSO objected to the KPU decision and took the PKPU 26 to challenge in the Supreme Court. In the last week of October 2018, the Supreme Court surprisingly granted OSO’s lawsuit—the Supreme Court has just published the verdict on November 8, 2018.

The latest hearing of the trial of the so-called Budget Mafia case is getting more interesting with the revelation of more information from the prosecutors. We also know more about the defendants in the case and the measurements they took to keep their business running with the help of important names.

The dispute between PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara (Persero) (KBN) and PT Karya Citra Nusantara (KCN) probably 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 a criminal realm. The President Director of KBN one Sattar Taba is under investigation.

The prosecutors of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) read their demands for  Fayakhun Andriadi, a suspect in the corruption scheme involving officials of the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla). Separately, a day after Fayakhun’s hearing, the prosecutors read their demands for the disgraced Governor of Jambi Zumi Zola.

PT Sunprima Nusantara Pembiayaan (SNP Finance) was finally declared bankrupt at the end of October 2018. The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim), however, continues to investigate the allegation of embezzlement concerning the Company with the help of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). There two fugitives the police must chase down, one of whom is Darwin Leo, the son of Columbia Group’s founder Leo Chandra.

Last week we reported that PT Berca Hardayaperkasa, part of Central Cipta Murdaya group belonging to Murdaya Widyawimarta (otherwise known as Murdaya Poo), had filed a lawsuit against PT Lumbung Padi Indonesia, a subsidiary of PT Sentratama Niaga Indonesia controlled by the Wilmar International Ltd. The lawsuit concerns a dispute over a debt of less than Rp1 billion.