Last year, the disgraced Supreme Court Justice, Justice Gazalba Saleh, who was supposedly involved in the allegation of case brokers that rocked the Supreme Court, was acquitted by the Panel of Judges of the notorious Corruption Court at the Bandung District Court. There was nothing surprising because this is not the first time this court has acquitted a graft defendant. KPK tried to appeal, but the Supreme Court, unsurprisingly, decided in favor of the previous court decision. Gazalba Saleh is free once again, but not for long. KPK put Saleh back several months later in another case of allegedly receiving grafts and committing money laundering. The trial started earlier this month. However, to everyone’s surprise, this week the Panel of Judges consider that the KPK have no authority to prosecute Saleh and therefore Saleh must be acquitted, again. What a mess.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) is investigating allegations of conspiracy in the process of procurement of goods and services at the National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional – BRIN). In the process, KPPU examined two parties from BRIN and two companies. The trial for the preliminary examination started recently.

The investigation into the case of alleged corruption related to the tin trading system carried out in the Mining Business License (IUP) area owned by PT Timah Tbk (TINS) is getting heated. We know that by now there are already 21 suspects in two different cases including high profile names, but the tension is not only limited to the parties. Towards the end of last week several accounts on social media reported an attempt by a police convoy to enter the building of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). What is interesting, however, is not the convoy, but the allegation that the Solicitor General for Specific Crimes (Jampidsus), who is tasked with handling the cases of mega corruption, was terrorized and followed by a number of parties.

Last week, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced that it was investigating allegations of corruption implicating PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGAS or PGN). It turns out, the process has been escalated to the stage of inquisition and there are already suspects, although the KPK has not yet made an official announcement.

The Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia (Satgas BLBI) continues to work in summoning obligors who can be traced. In the meantime, auction of the seized assets also continues.

The trial of the case of corruption involving officials of the Directorate General of Railways at the Ministry of Transportation is still ongoing and we know the case concerns railway projects in several different regions and therefore are examined by different district courts. Throughout the court proceedings, names of other parties allegedly involved in the scandal were mentioned, including high profile figures. Recently, the KPK announced that they had named new suspects including a corporation.

Two months ago an interesting “clash” happened. The Minister of Finance visited the AGO and brought along reports on four debtors of the LPEI, alleging fraudulent acts which caused losses to the State. The interesting part is, days after that, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stepped forward and announced that they had commenced investigation and inquisition into the similar allegation. The KPK looked like they wanted to steal the spotlight from the AGO, but the situation was quickly forgotten. This week, the KPK announced that it had imposed travel bans on several parties and interestingly, one of the companies suspected of being closely related to this case had long been declared bankrupt.

Towards the end of 2023 the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced two new suspects in the case of alleged corruption related to a project at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, one of whom is Achsanul Qosasi, member of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) (former lawmaker from Demokrat Party). For some, this is a long overdue announcement, however, the process after that continues without much surprises. Achsanul finally stood trial in March 2024 and within only two months, the prosecutors had read their demands.

Over three years ago we were exposed to the case of alleged corruption related to a land acquisition for the DP 0% housing program, which was the flagship program of then Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan. The case was investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and managed to ensnare individual and corporate suspects, including Yoory Corneles Pinontoan, the former president director of the Regional Public Corporation Pembangunan Sarana Jaya (PD Sarana Jaya). Since then, the POLRI had entered the picture and the second case had been announced by the KPK. In total, Yoory faces three court proceedings and the latest is ongoing.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is having a complicated time thanks to its own Deputy Chief, Nurul Ghufron. Currently, Ghufron is in dispute with the Supervisory Board of the commission. Not long ago, Ghufron submitted a report to the Supervisory Board alleging an ethical violation against a member of the board, Albertina Ho. Soon after, Ghufron submitted a lawsuit to the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN Jakarta) also against the board. This week, we learned that Ghufron took the dispute so far that he submitted a police report. To make everything even more complicated, the PTUN apparently decided in favor of Ghufron. How interesting.