In recent years, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai – DJBC) of the Ministry of Finance has been plagued by persistent legal problems, both from the behavior of its officials and from corruption within the institution. Now, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has come forward with a new case: alleged procurement violations. 

Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has submitted dossiers of nine suspects in the court mafia case related to acquittal of three companies, including Wilmar Group, from corruption charges. One of the suspects is Muhammad Syafei as head of social security and license of Wilmar Group. That means court proceeding will start soon. That’s it?

Towards the end of last week, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) announced something interesting. The Commission said it had found allegations of violations of healthy business competition in the digitalization project of PT Pertamina (Persero)’s Public Fuel Filling Stations (SPBU Pertamina). This announcement is interesting to us because it was made amidst the emergence of an investigation into alleged corruption that also involved the same project and is not the first time that KPPU has also investigated parties involved in alleged corruption. Therefore, we wonder, was this investigation deliberate? Are the results of KPPU’s investigation this time also related to the subject of the alleged corruption investigation?

Eddy Sindoro, once a trusted person in Lippo Group, was found guilty for his involvement in the case of bribery implicating the conglomerate several years back. A few years after that, the then Secretary of the Supreme Court, Nurhadi Abdurrachman, who supposedly had a side job in brokering cases, was found guilty for his involvement in a different case of corruption. Nurhadi was then named as a suspect in a case of money laundering. We have not heard of any progress since 2021, until last year. Apparently, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continued the investigation and summoned Eddy as witness. This week, Nurhadi finished his prison sentence, but before he could actually get out of the prison gate, the KPK team had already picked Nurhadi up. Nurhadi was officially detained for the second time. We know that this is related to the money laundering allegation, however, the question now is, how far up will the KPK go this time?

Towards the end of 2024, the defendants in the case of alleged corruption concerning railway projects which was investigated by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), have been found guilty. The implicated project is located along the northern part of Sumatera and investigations continue far from media coverage. At around the same time, the case managed to ensnare a Director General of the Ministry of Transportation who served at the time of the incident as a new suspect and the court proceedings also continued far from media coverage. Earlier this week, the prosecutors had read their demands. 

It has been two weeks since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed their investigation into the case of alleged corruption implicating PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBRI) and the searches continue until today. By far, 13 individuals have been...

The amendment of the Law on State-Owned Enterprises to Law No. 1/2025 (UU BUMN 2025) has marked a new chapter in the management of the country’s strategic assets. With a corporatist approach, the Government has explicitly stated its intention to encourage efficiency, meritocracy, and professionalism within BUMNs. However, normative changes in text will not have a significant impact without considering the reality of the power structure that has surrounded BUMNs. In addition to being surrounded by so many legal problems that have been customary for decades, as economic and political entities, the planned reforms will have major consequences, especially if they cannot be executed properly.

After being enacted on Feb. 24, 2025, Law No. 1/2025 on State-Owned Enterprises (UU BUMN 2025) paved the way for structural and functional reform of BUMNs. The goals are clear: to strengthen professionalism, reduce political intervention, and make BUMN a catalyst for national economic development. However, as with all major legal reforms, the revised text is not the end but rather the beginning of the real big work. Naturally, the public and stakeholders’ attention is focused on the implementation of the legal provisions. And this is where various challenges and “homework” begin to appear.