Last week, the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, issued a new regulation regarding the procedures for implementing tax collection on the amount of tax that must be paid. In general, this new regulation was drafted to provide justice and legal certainty for...

Earlier this month, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) made a confusing announcement. The institution stated that it succeeded in auctioning shares owned by PT Gunung Bara Utama (PT GBU) which is affiliated with Heru Hidayat, a convict in the Asuransi Jiwasraya corruption scandal. This announcement is surprising because we know that PT GBU has had many legal problems. More than that, the company that is said to have purchased PT GBU shares is a very low profile company. Is it reasonable for PT GBU to be worth almost Rp2 trillion? This week, we learned that in an ongoing legal case, the district court issued a decision that further complicates the situation. The AGO has a lot of homework to be done.

The Satuan Tugas Penanganan Hak Tagih Negara Dana Bantuan Likuiditas Bank Indonesia (Satgas BLBI) only have several months to do their duty, but for the public, until now the results are far below the target. The Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Mahfud MD, stated that he was optimistic that the Satgas BLBI would be able to collect all State money borrowed by BLBI obligors/debtors within five years. Does this mean there will be an extension of service period for the Satgas?

Lukas Enembe, the disgraced governor of Papua and politician from Democratic Party, finally stands trial as a graft defendant. Lukas was supposed to face indictment on June 12, 2023, but he refused an online hearing so the schedule was postponed to June 19, 2023. Lukas personally attended the hearing with assistance from his legal counsel and was indicted with two charges but he still believes that the case is a plot against him.

Back in March 2023, businessman Surya Darmadi, owner of Duta Palma Group, was declared guilty of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Surya attempted to appeal but to no avail. Separately, two Supreme Court staff who were involved in the allegation of case brokers that rocked the Supreme Court finally found guilty.

General Maraden Panggabean was the minister of Defense and Security who was concurrently commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (Panglima ABRI) in the mid-1970s. His name is better known from the Malari incident, the Fifteenth January Catastrophe (Malapetaka Limabelas Januari), which occurred on Jan. 15, 1974. This incident, in summary, arose as a result of large-scale demonstrations carrying the rejection of foreign investment, investment which was said to have the potential to open loopholes for corruption in the New Order Government. At the same time, there was rivalry among the military Generals, however, Maraden Panggabean managed to finish his career with brilliant achievements because he was close to the Government.

Three months ago we learned that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had been investigating allegations of corruption and misappropriation of authority committed by civil servants. Along with the revelation, the KPK apparently had named 10 suspects in a case of alleged corruption relating to the provision of remuneration (performance allowance, tunjangan kinerja – tukin) at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (Kementerian ESDM). Recently, we finally learned the names of the suspects and the modi operandi they used in the criminal scheme.

Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has named Muhammad Yusrizki, one executive of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN Indonesia), a suspect in the corruption scandal at BAKTI Kominfo, an agency handling funds collected from telecommunication companies for public service obligations at ministry of communications and informatics.

In 2022, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that they had commenced investigation into allegations of corruption at the root of the problem which caused the cooking oil shortage and price surcharge. By May of the same year, the AGO had named several suspects, then the President decided to dismiss the Minister of Trade, M Lutfi, after serving for less than two years. Trial of the defendants started soon after and they were found guilty several months later. In the midst of all that, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) announced that it had escalated the investigation on alleged cartel-like practices in the cooking oil industry into the next phase and officially examined 27 companies in Assembly hearings. The hearings start in October 2022 and recently, the examination stage is finally over. The KPPU decided that the allegation on cartel-like practices cannot be proven, however, seven companies were deemed responsible for the shortage and punished to pay over Rp70 billion in fines. This week, five companies decided to appeal.

President Soeharto’s half-brother, Probosutedjo bin Atmopawiro, was known as a flamboyant businessman, although he is full of controversy. Until the end of his life, the business group he built continued to grow and survive without much attention. In this generation, many people probably don’t know who Probosutedjo is. Unfortunately, after his death in 2018, the family relations that seemed harmonious began to be highlighted. The peak was earlier this year, when the legal counsel of Septanto Probosutedjo, the second child and first son of this family, announced to the public that the Probosutedjo siblings were in dispute. Not long ago, a new lawsuit was registered to the Central Jakarta district court.