Bodong Sharia Fund Investment, Commission III of the DPR asks APH to pursue assets of perpetrators with the new Criminal Code

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rano Alfath, asked law enforcement officials to use the new Criminal Code to pursue personal assets belonging to perpetrators of alleged investment fraud cases through the Indonesian Sharia Fund (DSI) platform. He emphasized that handling this case must be able to recover the losses suffered by the victims.

"With the new Criminal Code, there is actually room to trace the personal assets of the perpetrators. Our focus is clear, there must be maximum return on the losses of the victims," said Rano Alfath, in a statement quoted on Saturday, January 17.

Rano revealed that in many cases of investment fraud, the perpetrators were indeed sentenced, but the seized assets were not enough to return the victims' losses. As a result, he said, victims still bear losses, while similar crimes continue to recur with different methods.

"It's useless if the perpetrator is imprisoned but the victim's money does not return. This is what makes investment-based fraud continue to occur," he said.

Rano assessed that the indications of fraud were very strong in the case of the Indonesian Sharia Fund. He emphasized that the pattern of collecting funds, using digital means, and promising high profits that are not realized shows strong indications of fraud and digital-based financial crimes.

"So this case cannot be put aside solely as a dispute of personal status or business risk," he said.

The PKB legislator from Dapil Banten III also criticized the use of religious labels and symbols in illegal investment practices, which he considered very harmful morally and socially. In fact, according to Rano, his promotion capitalizes on religious sentences that intoxicate the public.

"This is even more sad because it uses the name of sharia. In fact, at the beginning of the promotion, it was preceded by religious sentences such as Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. This is clearly deceiving the public's trust," he said.

Rano also emphasized that the Financial Services Authority (OJK) had a crucial role in this case, especially regarding supervision and licensing. He reminded that supervision should not be carried out after a case that went viral in the community.

"OJK must provide a clear picture. This supervisory role is important. Do not let the supervision be carried out only after the case is widely publicized," he said.

Rano also asked PPATK and the National Police to make optimal efforts to restore the rights of the victims. According to him, PPATK can conduct a search for the personal assets of the perpetrators as a basis for the Criminal Investigation Unit to take legal action.

"PPATK can describe the flow of money, the Criminal Investigation Unit carries out the function of enforcement. If everything goes maximum, God willing, the results will also be maximum," he said.

Rano is optimistic that the return of the victims' losses can be made significantly, if referring to a number of previous cases.

"We have an example of a case where to this day almost all of the losses, around Rp. 1.8 trillion, can be recovered. That is proof that asset recovery is not impossible," he concluded.