Tracing the Footsteps of Fraudsters

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

A screenshot of the figure of Anwar Mochamad Hasan, the founder of PT Dunia Coin Digital or WX-Coin appears in a video on the Youtube channel. Anwar's whereabouts have not been known since 2019. Photo was taken on Tuesday (16/11/2021).

During a visit to at his house in Pamulang, South Jakarta in mid-November of last year, Y warmly welcomed us. We sat comfortably on the terrace of the two-story house. Y wore a blue shirt and a sarong. The relaxed atmosphere could not reduce the tension caused by the question about Anwar Moch Hasan, the chief executive officer (CEO) of World X-Coin, Y's nephew.

Previously, Anwar, through an internet application, offered investment packages with lucrative returns of between 20.68 percent and 106.89 percent. The gains were disbursed in 35 installments, each paid in 10 days, the profits gained from investing in crypto assets offered by the company's team. In 2019, not only the profits but the money of the investors could be withdrawn. After that, the investment application could no longer be accessed.

Y acknowledged that he did not know Anwar's job. According to him, a number of people had come to his house looking for Anwar regarding business matters. About 20 years ago, Anwar stayed at Y's house. However, Y no longer knew Anwar's whereabouts. "It's not that we don't want to tell the address, but we don't know where he is. Even his significant other doesn't know where he is," he said.

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With the lack of information from Y, the effort to trace Anwar's whereabouts became more difficult. In 2016, Anwar established a company called PT Dunia Coin Digital. The company’s deed indicates that it was located on Jl. Bulak Wangi III Blok A1 in Patal Kedaung, Pamulang. When visited, residents who lived around the address said the address never used the block name. Addresses there only used street names and numbers.

The search continued to the home address listed on Anwar's identification card (KTP), namely Jl. Bulak Wangi II No. 58, Kedaung, Pamulang. There, we were greeted by Ramli, the owner of the house. When we asked where Anwar was, Ramli just laughed. He invited us to sit on a chair on the terrace of the house and told us that Anwar had misused his home address.

KOMPAS/FRD

The house of Y, Anwar Moch Hasan's uncle, is located on Jalan Bulak Wangi II, Kedaung, Pamulang, South Tangerang on Thursday (17/11/2021).

From there, we discovered that we were not the first to seek Anwar's address to Ramli's house. Ramli has received two letters addressed to Anwar from the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Apart from Pamulang, Anwar also bought a house in the De Latinos Housing Complex in BSD City, to be precise in the De Rio Cluster. However, when we visited the house in mid-November, it had changed ownership.

In the house, measuring approximately 180 square meters, Anwar lived with his wife, children and subordinates for less than a year. Several luxury cars, such as a red Ford Mustang, white Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and white Honda HR-V, were often parked in the house’s front yard.

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In 2019, a number of people who claimed they had been cheated by Anwar frequently visited the house. They confiscated Anwar's car. Shortly after the incident, Anwar and his family were never seen again.

“When his wife moved from the house, Anwar wasn't there. When I asked the driver where they would go, he said they wanted to go to Bandung," said one of the security officers at the De Latinos housing estate.

Not only Anwar, the whereabouts of the director of PT Teknologi Investasi Indonesia Hindra is also unknown. PT Teknologi Investasi Indonesia was a company that created a crypto trading robot called Mark AI. The company's website has been inaccessible since 18 Oct. 2021 and investors could no longer withdraw their money.

KOMPAS/FRD

The Mark AI office which is located on the 16th floor of the Voza Premium Office Building, Jalan HR Muhammad, Sukamanunggal, Surabaya, East Java is no longer used for activities by its staff on Thursday (9/12/2021).

The existence of the luxury Mark AI office in the Voza Premium Office building in Surabaya, East Java, was allegedly used to convince investors to join. We also visited the Voza Premium Office building on Jl. Mayjen HR Muhammad No. 31. On the 16th floor of block 16D of the Voza Premium Office building, Mark AI's office, there was no activity at all. The 184 sq m office had been vacant for about two months. Even so, the Mark AI logo and company name were still seen on the main door and the reception desk.

Efforts to find traces of Hindra and Mark AI's employees also failed to give any clues. However, based on information gathered by investors in Mark AI, Hindra was believed to live in Bali. The man, who was born in Selat Panjang, 38 years ago, was also suspected of having undergone a PCR test in Bali on the day Mark AI closed its website.

Elsewhere, Give4Dream, the community that operated crypto asset Wincash Coin (WCC) in 2019, also did not leave any trace of its founders. The community, which was disbanded at the end of February 2020, left members with crypto assets whose values had sharply plummeted. In fact, the community promised crypto yields of up to 48 percent within 40 days.

Many members accused Erwin Noviantoro of being the person responsible for the downfall of the WCC cryptocurrency. However, they did not know Erwin's whereabouts. He is alleged to have moved house several times and now lives in Butuh village in Salatiga.

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Erwin's house is surrounded by high fences and guarded by security guards. When we arrived, the security officer said Erwin was not available. When contacted to arrange an interview appointment, Erwin's security guard did not respond.

Meanwhile, with information from the victims, we tracked down a number of locations where Edccash had been trailing. One of the locations on the Google Maps application was marked with the name EDINARCOIN Cibubur Community at Ruko Villa Indah No. 9-10, Cibubur, Ciracas District, East Jakarta. There was no trace of a nameplate or anything that said Edccash, except for a sticker on the fence of the shophouse complex. It read, “Treasure of the Raja Exchange, Place of Exchange for EDCCASH. WA; 081289311764”. A shop worker, Ian, 30, said he did not know the name of the entity renting numbers 9 and 10 of the shophouse. However, Ian remembered that the people living the shophouse had held a charity event and had given money to local residents.

Abdulrahman Yusuf (AY), the creator of Edccash, was recorded in a video dated 4 Nov., 2021, on Youtube. AY threw money at a crowd. Now he is being tried in the Bekasi District Court. (FRD/JOG/DIV/BIL)

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

Erwin Noviantoro's house in Tingkir District, Salatiga, Central Java, was uninhabited when visited on Saturday (4/12/2021). Erwin is the founder of the Give4Dream community which was declared an illegal crypto entity according to the Financial Services Authority Investment Alert Task Force.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.