Several days ago, Michael Buehler, a reader or senior lecturer in Comparative Politics at SOAS University of London, published an interesting piece from LinkedIn Pulse. The article summarizes the tax debts reportedly owed by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, brother to Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto, to Swiss tax authorities. Because of these debts, Swiss authorities have initiated foreclosure actions on two villas belonging to the family.

The Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia (Satgas BLBI) continue working. The Satgas has published seven new summons aimed at the existing obligors since last week and the meetings was conducted this week.

The trial of Andhi Pramono, the former Head of Directorate General of Custom and Excise (DJBC) office in Makassar, South Sulawesi will end soon. Andhi was made suspect in the case of alleged corruption and supposedly has been a broker for business actors for over a decade. After over three months of court proceedings, during the hearing held last week, the prosecutors demanded Andhi to be punished to 10 years in prison.

Trial on the allegation of case brokers that rocked the Supreme Court slowly comes to the finish line, After several months of trial, the Panel of Judges finally read their decision for the latest defendant who is also a former commissioner of Wika Beton, Dadan Tri Yudianto. Dadan acted as an intermediary between the parties in the predicate crime.

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. This week, Achsanul finally stood trial.

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) recently officially made a report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) regarding the alleged graft involving the President Director of PT Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jawa Tengah (Bank Jateng) for the 2014-2023 period, Supriyatno, and the Governor of Central Java for the 2013-2023 period, Ganjar Pranowo (PDIP).

Several years have passed since the Government began to express plans to impose excise on Packaged Sweetened Drinks (Minuman Berpemanis Dalam Kemasan – MBDK). Consumption of sweetened drinks needs to be controlled primarily for health reasons, namely preventing various risks of non-communicable diseases caused by excessive sugar consumption. This effort has certainly met with resistance from industry, but recently the Ministry of Health has expressed its support and as such the Ministry of Finance is optimistic that it will be able to start implementing this regulation this year.

The investigation into the case of corruption in Papua will end soon. We know that the key person in the case, Lukas Enembe, the disgraced governor of Papua, passed away a day after Christmas 2023. This news gave rise to a lot of criticism at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from Lukas’ supporters, especially since from the start many believed that the KPK was the cause of Lukas’ worsening health condition. However, we are more concerned about asset recovery efforts in this case. Lukas was found guilty in the predicate crime and should be tried on suspicion of money laundering. How will this legal process proceed? Apart from the questions, the latest defendant in the case recently listened to the prosecutors demands against him.

In 2021, amidst the drama of internal conflict between the leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and dozens of its former employees, the National Police (POLRI) appeared and provided shelter. The former KPK employees were made civil servants at the Directorate of Corruption Crimes (Dittipikor) which is part of the Criminal Investigative Unit (Bareskrim). Some time after that, discourse emerged to separate Dittipikor from Bareskrim and make it more powerful. Over two years later, last week, the POLRI Chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said that the formation of the Corruption Eradication Corps (Kortas Tipikor) was just waiting for the President’s approval. The question is, with the upcoming addition of institution dealing with alleged corruption, will the process of eradicating corruption be more effective or will it be the opposite?

Windi Purnama, one of the many suspects in the BAKTI case, the case of alleged corruption related to a project at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, recently hear the prosecutors demands against him. Although a lot of interesting things emerged in the investigation process we know that in the case all eyes were on former Minister Johnny Plate (NasDem). The public does not discuss Windi’s role much. This is unfortunate, especially because Windi was named suspect on allegation of money laundering and the case cause over Rp8 trillion of State losses.