Yogyakarta Regional Police Detain 6 Land Mafia Suspects Mbah Tupon

The press conference for the alleged land mafia case that befell Mbah Tupon at the Yogyakarta Police Headquarters, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta, Friday (20/6/2025).ANTARA/Luqman Hakim

Regional Police (Polda) of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) detained six of the seven suspects in the alleged land mafia case that befell Mbah Tupon (68), a resident of Ngentak Hamlet, Kalurahan Bangunjiwo, Bantul, DI Yogyakarta.

"Of the seven suspects that we have determined, we have detained six people since Tuesday. Three (among them) we have detained today," said Director of the Directorate of General Criminal Investigation of the Yogyakarta Regional Police, Kombes Idham Mahdi, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, June 20.

Seven people were named as suspects, each with the initials BR (60), Tk (54), VW (50), Ty (50), MA (47), IF (46), and AH. One suspect, namely AH, has not been detained because he is still in the process of being investigated.

BR, who is a former head of the Bangunjiwo village and a member of the Bantul DPRD for the 2014-2019 and 2019-2024 periods, is suspected of being the entrance to this case by persuading the victim to submit a land certificate and connect the victim with other perpetrators.

This case began in 2020 when Tupon Hadi Suwarno alias Mbah Tupon owned 2,103 square meters of land in Ngentak Hamlet, Bangunjiwo, Bantul.

Part of the land was then sold through BR's intermediary with an agreement price of Rp. 1 million per square meter and paid in installments.

Mbah Tupon then handed over SHM Number 4993/Banggjiwo to notary Aris Munadi for field breakdown purposes. The certificate was broken into three parts, namely SHM 24451 covering an area of about 1,655 square meters, SHM 24452 covering an area of 298 square meters, and another field in the name of Mbah Tupon. The rest is donated for environmental purposes such as RT warehouses and access roads.

The victim and his wife were then asked to sign the document without being read out because they had put their trust in the perpetrator.

According to Idham, the suspects took advantage of the weaknesses of victims who could not read and had hearing loss.

"The suspects took advantage of the shortcomings of Mbah Tupon who could not read and had their ears disturbed," said Idham.

The SHM 24451 certificate was later transferred to the suspect IF and used by the suspect MA to apply for a loan to the bank in the amount of Rp. 2.5 billion. Meanwhile, SHM 24452 is guaranteed to the cooperative and is also pawned to individuals using a fake deed.

From this series of crimes, the estimated value of losses based on appraisals temporarily reached Rp3.5 billion.

Based on the results of the investigation, Idham said that a number of funds were divided between the perpetrators with Rp. 60 million received by BR, Tk received Rp. 137 million from Ty, and VW received Rp. 150 million, then divided it to Tk of Rp. 18.75 million and used the rest for personal purposes.

"BR gave SHM and persuaded Mbah Tupon to TK, then TK ordered Mbah Tupon and his wife to sign a fictitious AJB," said Idham.

The evidence that was secured includes SHM 24451 on behalf of IF, SHM 24452 on behalf of Tupon Hadi Suwarno, as well as other documents related to the case. One of the sale and purchase certificates is said to have been made without the valid presence of the parties, and the process of changing names is carried out through an illegal notary.

The suspects were charged with Article 378 of the Criminal Code regarding fraud, Article 372 of the Criminal Code concerning embezzlement, Article 263 of the Criminal Code concerning letter forgery, and Article 266 of the Criminal Code regarding false information in authentic deed. They were also charged with Articles 3, 4, and 5 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Crime of Money Laundering.

The criminal threats vary, ranging from four to seven years in prison for criminal acts of fraud, embezzlement, and forgery, as well as a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to Rp. 10 billion for money laundering.