Corruption on MBZ Toll Road Project : Suspects
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has been investigating cases of alleged corruption within PT Waskita Karya Tbk (WSKT) and announced a new case back in June 2023. The series of investigations especially attracts attention because it was conducted alongside the investigation into the company’s subsidiary, PT Waskita Beton Precast Tbk (WSBP). In March 2023, the AGO announced the latest investigation, this time related to the process of construction of the Jakarta-Cikampek II Elevated Toll Road, better known as the MBZ toll road. Five months later, this week, the AGO named three suspects in the predicate case.
On Corruption in Waskita Beton : Decisions
The case of alleged corruption implicating PT Waskita Beton Precast Tbk (WSBP) entered the prosecution stage far from media coverage. This is unacceptable considering that the case allegedly causes State losses amounted to over Rp2.5 trillion, but still the court proceedings continue without much attention. As per this week, six defendants had been found guilty, including the controversial Hasnaeni Moeis.
Latest on Corruption in Bandung
The trials of the bribers in the case of alleged corruption in Bandung, West Java, had ended. The three defendants were found guilty by the Panel of Judges. At around the same time, the trial of Yana Mulyana, the then mayor of Bandung (a politician from Prabowo’s Gerindra Party), and two other bribee just started.
On the Problematic BAKTI Case : New Suspects
The first batch of suspects in the BAKTI case, the case of alleged corruption related to a project at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, had faced trial since June 2023. A lot of interesting things emerged in the indictment when all eyes were on former Minister Johnny Plate. Johnny allegedly received and requested so much from the project. In the development of the investigation, there were parties who returned tens of billions to the AGO and caused chaos. Recently, the owner of PT Sansaine Exindo, Jemy Sutjiawan, admitted that he took the initiative to share the profits he obtained from this project with all parties, when he attended one of the hearings as a witness. This week, the AGO named three new suspects, including Jemy.
More Lawsuit against Satgas BLBI : Pantoru Mas
Away from the public spotlight, in July 2023, the Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia (Satgas BLBI) carried out the confiscation of collateral and/or other assets that they claimed to related to the obligor of Bank Indonesia Raya (BIRA, Bank Bira), Atang Latief, and obligor of Bank Tamara, Lidia Muchtar. Another party, PT Pantoru Mas, filed a lawsuit against this decision. The relationship between the parties is as complicated as any other obligors’ business relationship, but interestingly, the most recent hearing held by the court was actually carried out to withdraw the lawsuit. On the same day, PT Pantoru Mas filed a new lawsuit.
Chaos in Tomy Winata’s Rempang Eco City Project
A clash between joint officers from the POLRI, TNI, the Security Directorate at the Batam Business Agency (BP Batam), and the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) against residents on Rempang Island occurred on Sept. 7, 2023. The clash occurred when the land measurement process was being carried out in the Rempang Eco City area, which is now a national strategic project, causing a physical rejection from residents. However, this problem has not just occurred. The development project for this area began in 2004 but was stopped due to various obstacles before continuing in the middle of this year. The project owner is BP Batam in collaboration with PT Makmur Elok Graha (PT MEG), a subsidiary of Artha Graha owned by Tomy Winata.
Satgas BLBI Final Summons
Towards the end of its term of duty, the Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia (Satgas BLBI) accelerated the summons of obligors who still had to settle its outstanding responsibilities or to settle other issues. Starting this week, the Satgas publicly announced final summons for several parties.
Latest Lawsuit against Satgas BLBI
PT Keramika Indonesia Assosiasi Tbk (KIAS) recently filed a lawsuit against the Chief of the Satgas BLBI and the Minister of Law and Human Rights. Apparently, for almost a year now, the Ministry has blocked the company’s access to the administration system which has resulted in limited access for the company to do a number of things, and the discussion process that has been carried out so far has not yielded good results for the company. However, why could the Ministry make this decision?
On the Railway Corruption Case : Verdict for the Bribers
The trial of the bribers in the case of corruption involving officials of the Directorate General of Railways at the Ministry of Transportation is over. Three bribers have been found guilty by two different corruption courts. However, since the entire process only lasted for less than five months, we can’t help but wonder whether the trial has been conducted properly.
On the Wealthy Taxman Case : Statute of Limitations
In the last week of August 2023 we finally listened to the prosecutors indictment for the former Echelon III official at the Ministry of Finance, Rafael Alun Trisambodo. Rafael, as we all know, is standing trial in the case of alleged corruption and money laundering. This week, Rafael read his objection to the indictment and the legal counsel requested the Panel of Judges to dismiss the indictment, on the grounds that it exceeded the statute of limitations. The crimes revealed by the KPK did occur more than 20 years ago, however, can the statute of limitations be applied that easily?