Disappointed With The Tangerang District Court, The Attorney For Victim Rinahan Rihani Surprised That The Fraud Article Could Disappear

TANGERANG - The panel of judges sentenced the Twins Riana and Rihani to a lighter sentence than the demands of the Public Prosecutor (JPU). This is because the two twin women were sentenced to under 5 years in prison for the iPhone reseller fraud case worth Rp35 billion.

The judge sentenced Rinhana to 4 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 1 billion, while Rihani was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

The attorney for the victims, Odie Hudiyanto, admitted that he was very disappointed with the decision of the Panel of Judges which was considered very mitigating for the defendants. In fact, what Riana and Rihani did was in losses of up to tens of billions.

"The amount of money is huge, tens of billions. The number of victims is large and the effect of the victims being below is now being chased. So that's what the judge must consider," Odie told reporters, Tuesday, December 5.

"So it should be over 5 years, because what is applied is the ITE Law, not up to 3 or 4 years," he continued.

Odie also questioned the article applied by the panel of judges to the Twins regarding the ITE Law. According to him, the judge actually gave articles on the ITE Law, not about fraud that had been committed by Riana and Rihani.

"I was confused why the article on fraud and embezzlement was lost," he said.

Therefore, he will take legal steps by filing a civil lawsuit with the Tangerang District Court, whose point is that the defendant is asked to return the victims' money.

Because according to him, this defendant did not deserve to only serve a prison sentence. However, they also have to return the assets resulting from their criminal acts.

"So I, as the attorney for 24 victims, have prepared a civil lawsuit, the point is to punish the Twin defendant to return the victim's money, the plan is that this week, on Friday we will enter it," he concluded.

The Panel of Judges sentenced the defendant Rihani to 3 years in prison. This was read out directly in the Tangerang District Court (PN) courtroom.

The Panel of Judges assessed that the defendant Rihani had been proven to have violated Article 372 in conjunction with Article 64 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code concerning embezzlement.

"Declaring that the defendant Rihani alias Nani bint Muslih has committed an act intentionally and against the law has something entirely or partly belonging to someone else," said the Panel of Judges at the Tangerang District Court, Monday, December 4.

"Imposing, the defendant Rihani was sentenced to three years in prison and remains detained," he continued.

The verdict given by the Panel of Judges against the defendant Rihani was lighter than that of his twin Rina. Rina was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 1 billion.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) charged the twins Riana and Rihani for the iPhone buying and selling fraud case with a sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 1 billion.

In fact, if you look at the case, it is considered that Riana and Rihani, the prosecutor, were proven to have committed a criminal act intentionally and spread false news that was misleading, resulting in consumer losses in electronic transactions.

The fraud case committed by Riana Rihani has been reported since June-October 2022, with the nominal loss of the victim reaching Rp35 billion, 18 police reports.

Riana Rihani launched her fraudulent act with the mode of selling iPhone to resellers. Both use the preorder system to get customers.

The victims were promised to get an iPhone at a cheaper price than the market. However, the victim did not receive the promised item.