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Jiwasraya and Asabri cases: Milestone in the fight against corporate graft
The two cases mark a milestone in the AGO indicting corporations for corruption since the enactment of Supreme Court Regulation No. 13/2016 on prosecuting corporations for corruption crimes.
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On trial: Jakarta Corruption Court judges hear the testimonies of PT Asabri state insurance graft case defendants Heru Hidayat and Lukman Purnomosidi on Oct. 13. State prosecutors accuse the defendants of allegedly causing Rp 22.78 trillion (US$1.57 billion) in state losses. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
Two of the largest corruption cases in the country’s history took place in the last couple of years.
The first was the corruption scandal at state-owned life insurance company PT Asuransi Jiwasraya, which caused Rp 16.8 trillion (US$1.2 billion) in state losses. The second was the corruption case involving PT Asabri (Persero), a state-owned insurance and pension fund for the military, the police and Defense Ministry employees, which incurred Rp 22.78 trillion in losses to the state.
In the Jiwasraya case, the suspects placed big investments in questionable stocks brokered by several investment management companies. As for the Asabri case, the scheme was more complex, involving stock manipulation plotted by the main suspects.
Following an investigation, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) named 20 suspects in the Jiwasraya case, of which six have been convicted by the Jakarta Corruption Court. The remaining 14 suspects are now facing separate trials each. As for the Asabri case, the AGO named 23 suspects, who are now standing trial.
In spite of the large amount of losses, it is worth noting that 13 corporations were indicted in the Jiwasraya case and 10 corporations in the Asabri case. They may mark the first time in the country’s history that so many companies were charged with corruption within a single year.
In the first four years since Supreme Court Regulation (Perma) No. 13/2016 on prosecuting corporations for corruption crimes came into force, only six companies were charged with corruption.
Even though corporate liability for criminal acts of corruption was promulgated since the enactment of Anticorruption Law No. 31/1999, the provision was first enforced only in 2016 following the issuance of Perma No. 13/2016. In that year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named PT NKE (formerly PT DGI) as a suspect of corruption in relation to the construction of an infectious diseases and tourism hospital at Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali. The company was later found guilty and fined Rp 700 million.
