The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally officially announced that they had named three suspects in the latest case of alleged corruption in the Ministry of Agriculture, one of whom is the Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo. This is in line with the news circulating after the KPK searched the official residence of the Minister on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023 evening. Syahrul managed to pull some antics before finally deciding to resign from his position earlier this month. Interestingly, on the same day the KPK announced the case, Syahrul already filed a pre-trial petition. This could only mean that Syahrul had been named as suspect for a while now.

Dody Martimbang, former officials of PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTM) was found guilty by the Panel of Judges of the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court. Dody was named suspect in a case of alleged corruption which initially ensnared the Director of PT Loco Montrado, Siman Bahar. Siman managed to escape legal consequences after he won the pre-trial in which he questioned the KPK decision to name him as suspect back in 2021, but the KPK was determined enough to name Siman as suspect for the second time earlier this year. With the decision on Dody, we wonder if Siman will finally stand trial. 

We all know that the term of office of the Satgas BLBI (Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia) will soon be over. Regardless of whether there will be an extension of time, until now there are still many obstacles that have arisen, including legal challenges. This week, Andri Tedjadharma (with links to Bank Centris Internasional) filed a second lawsuit.

PT Gema Kreasi Perdana (PT GKP), one of Harita Group’s many subsidiaries, began operations in 2022 on Wawonii island in the Konawe Islands (Konawe Kepulauan – Konkep) regency in Southeast Sulawesi. The company operates with a license on a lease-to-use forest area (IPPKH) granted in 2014 for nickel ore mining production operations and supporting facilities in limited production forest areas and production forest areas. Since starting operations, the company has faced resistance from many parties. In the middle of this year, representatives of local residents and environmental activists filed a lawsuit to the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) asking the court to cancel said IPPKH. Last month, far from the media spotlight, the lawsuit was granted. What does this mean for Harita Group?

Last month the Commercial Court at the Makassar District Court surprised us. The court accepted the lawsuit for Suspension of Debt Payment (PKPU) filed by CV Surya Mas against State EPC firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan (Persero) Tbk (PTPP). PTPP is then required to follow the temporary PKPU process. Interestingly, the court recently announced that the process had been annulled and the PKPU status was revoked.

Over two years ago, in light of the corruption scandal in PT Asuransi Jiwasraya, the public learned about a different problem in PT Asuransi Jiwa Adisarana Wanaartha, also known as WanaArtha Life. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) decided to seize the company’s assets and, as a result, the company was unable to fulfill its obligations to its clients. The case would actually be the beginning of revelation of other crimes committed by WanaArtha officials. In addition to a criminal investigation initiated by the police, the company operating license has finally been annulled by the Financial Service Authority (OJK) in December 2022.

In the midst of the investigation process carried out by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) into two cases of alleged corruption involving State-owned Telkom Indonesia and its subsidiaries, the public missed news about a similar investigation which also involved several subsidiaries of Telkom Indonesia, perhaps because this process was carried out by the West Jakarta Prosecutors’ Office (Kejari Jakarta Barat), which is smaller in scale. Even so, this case has ensnared eight suspects so far, most of them are officials at Telkom Indonesia subsidiaries, five of whom have already undergone trial. What a mess.

Towards the end of 2022, the investigation team of the Solicitor General for Specific Crimes at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that they escalated the status of the investigation into alleged corruption in the Trade-Based Export Credit Scheme (SKEBP) for flower crab (rajungan) and beef at State-owned PT Surveyor Indonesia (Persero) to the inquisition stage. We managed to find a court document which explained a similar chronology to the allegations and several weeks later the AGO named suspects in the case, including the official we have previously mentioned. The process continues far from media coverage and this week all defendants have been found guilty.

Two weeks ago, the social media users were shocked by the testimony of an anonymous account which revealed that their relative had committed suicide because they were unable to pay the loan bill on the P2P lending platform, PT Pembiayaan Digital Indonesia (AdaKami). The public forced the parties involved to explain themselves. AdaKami unfortunately did not give a good response because it provided criminal threats to those who conveyed the story, but regardless of what happened after the story was published, we are not surprised. For a long time, P2P lending platforms have been operating by exploiting loopholes in regulations made by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). In the end, users must be burdened with maximum loan interest and once again without supervision from the OJK. Years later, we have to wait for a casualty to see the KPPU enter the picture. KPPU mentions indications of cartel-like practices.

In the midst of all the legal problems that have hit the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the implementation of Government programs continues. With less than a year remaining before the government changes, the Government is determined to complete the...