Accompanying The Eight Victims Of The Golden Ponzi Scheme, Ex-KPK Employees Disappointed The Defendant Is Not Ready To Give An Answer

Former KPK employee Rasamala Aritonang becomes the attorney for 8 victims of the gold investment ponzi scheme in the Tangerang District Court/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Former employee of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who is now a member of the Visi Law Office, Rasamala Aritonang expressed his disappointment with the defendant, Budi Hermanto and his legal advisor.

This disappointment arises because Budi is not ready to provide an answer to the lawsuit filed by 8 victims of the crime of investing in gold using the Ponzi scheme. As a result, the trial with case number 1907/Pid.B/2021/PN Tng was postponed.

Rasamala said that Budi and his lawyers should have been ready with their answers. Moreover, the panel of judges has given one week since March 16.

"Basically, what we are waiting for is the response and attitude of the defendants, not only the eight people we are accompanying but also hundreds of other victims. Especially the victim's commitment to compensate the victims for the very large value," he said in a written statement, Wednesday, March 23.

He said the defendant must explain the existence of gold worth hundreds of billions or trillions which are the rights of the victims.

"We hope that at the next trial, Monday, March 28, the defendant and his legal advisers will be ready with answers and show good faith to restore the finances of these victims," said Rasamala.

Furthermore, Rasamala said, his law office has now begun to be contacted by victims who lost money as a result of Budi's actions. The number of victims and the value of losses are also not kidding.

So, Budi, who is now sitting as a defendant, was asked to explain the existence of the assets with a value of up to hundreds of billions and trillions of rupiah.

"More than that, in the future, we hope that the use of Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code will increasingly have a place in the law enforcement process in Indonesia, so that law enforcement that is oriented to the interests of recovering crime victims really becomes the attention of law enforcement officers in Indonesia," he explained.

"Efforts to recover victims also require attention from other state institutions such as PPATK to trace assets resulting from crimes, LPSK which has the task of protecting witnesses and victims, as well as other law enforcement agencies," said Rasamala.

This case started when Budi Hermanto bought gold from several people and promised high profits by paying bilyet giro or checks. To these people, he offered a term for the payment of the bilyet giro which increased the interest rate.

It's just that, over time, Budi can't keep his promise. He then allegedly spun money from new investors to old investors.

The Vision of the Law Office which is now run by former KPK Spokespersons Febri Diansyah, Donal Fariz, and Rasamala Aritonang accompanies the victims by implementing Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code in order to recover their losses.

The following is the text of Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code:

If an act that forms the basis of an indictment in an examination of a criminal case by a district court causes harm to another person, then the presiding judge of the trial at the request of that person may decide to combine the lawsuit for compensation to the criminal case.