The Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment Affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, reported Haris Azhar, the executive director of Lokataru & former coordinator of KontraS, and Fatia Maulidiyanti, the current coordinator of KontraS, to the Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Polda Metro Jaya) back in 2021. Both activists accused the retired Army general of playing a role in the Wabu Block, a gold mine in Intan Jaya, Papua. They relayed the accusation in a virtual discussion aired on Haris Azhar’s YouTube channel. Some consider Luhut’s action repressive, but others support his move. The police report is being followed up despite a lot of scorn. Haris and Fatia face trial on April 3, 2023 and remain adamant that Luhut’s accusations are fabricated. Is that right?

Lukas Enembe, the disgraced governor of Papua, who was ensnared in a bribery case investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was recently named a suspect in a case of alleged money laundering. This announcement was made at the same time as the trial of the suspected bribe giver, Rijatono Lakka, owner of PT Tabi Bangun Papua (PT TBP) started. Not long after that, the KPK named two new suspects in the predicate crime.

Towards the end of last year, we reported on the business dispute involving companies under the CT Corp and Gudang Garam business group which took place far from the media spotlight. This dispute has been examined for more than a year at the Sidoarjo District Court. To our surprise, a new party arises in a dispute over a similar matter. PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk (NISP) filed a police report against Gudang Garam, its executives and affiliated companies for alleged letter forgery, fraud and money laundering. Recently, we learned that the first lawsuit was rejected by the district court while the mediation stage on the ongoing dispute failed to reach agreement. 

The South Jakarta District Court once again rendered a decision that caused a stir. This time, the decision that is being discussed is related to a dispute between PT Harmas Jalesveva (Harmasland) and e-commerce issuer PT Bukalapak.com Tbk (BUKA). Last week, the District Court partially granted the lawsuit filed by Harmasland and ordered BUKA to pay compensation in the amount of more than Rp100 billion, although previously in 2022, the same District Court ruled that Harmasland’s lawsuit cannot be accepted.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has just made improvements to regulations relating to notifications for transactions of mergers, consolidations, or acquisitions of company shares and/or assets, or better known as notifications for mergers and acquisitions. There have been some changes made to keep up with the times.

Less than two years ago, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) warned West Java because the province is the province with the highest corruption cases in the commission’s records. But the warning seemed pointless because even after enduring the embarrassment, the KPK still had to deal with rogue regional heads from West Java. Towards the end of last week, the KPK carried out their latest sting operation and finally caught Yana Mulyana, the mayor of Bandung from Gerindra. Yana was named suspect and he is the 17th regional head from West Java who was arrested by the KPK in the last 15 years.

Benny Tjokrosaputro, graft convict in the PT Asuransi Sosial Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia (PT ASABRI) corruption scandal and the case of corruption in Asuransi Jiwasraya refused to give up. Even though he has been punished to the maximum sentence in these two cases, Benny is still adamant that the results of the investigative audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) are flawed. Last week, Benny sued the institution for the fifth time in the last two years.

The Government’s anti-corruption spirit was tarnished after the wealth of Rafael Alun Trisambodo, a tax official, came under scrutiny. Later, Rafael was suspected of having wealth related to suspicious transactions that had been carried out for more than 12 years. Rafael was named suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in March 2023, but the process was only made official at the beginning of this month.

It seems that Robert Tantular (former owner of Bank Century/now Bank J Trust) is not going to let his dispute with Antonius Vidi Kamadjaja just end. This week, Robert once again filed a lawsuit against Anton, through the South Jakarta District Court. This is the fourth lawsuit Robert has filed in the last two years.