Not only have the alleged perpetrators of romance scams tarnished their own reputation, but the allegations against them have also affected those around them.
By
DHANANG DAVID, INSAN ALFAJRI, IRENE SARWINDANINGRUM, ANDY RIZA HIDAYAT
·6 minutes read
DHANANG DAVID
Iqbal's home area, one of the perpetrators of a romance scam, is in Tangerang Regency, Banten. AJ (53). Iqbal's father lived in this area.
AJ (53) could not hide his anger towards Mohammad Pangestu (29). His eldest son, whom he should be proud of, had tarnished the family’s good name.
For almost a year and a half, AJ has been confining himself to a simple hut in Tangerang regency, Banten. In fact, he didn't even go to pray at the local mosque, around 100 meters from his house because he felt ashamed by the neighbors who called his son Iqbal a cheater.
“In the past, I often led prayers at the mosque. What should I say to people after finding out that my son had behaved like that?” AJ said at his house on Monday evening (14/3/2022).
His eldest son, Iqbal, is facing charges of defrauding four women under the guise of love. He manipulated his personal data when approaching his victims, and then asked them to borrow money for him through online lenders.
Since then, several victims have visited Iqbal's house in Tangerang. "The police have already come here. The RT [neighborhood unit], RW [community unit] heads, and the neighbors also know about it. Now, I don’t know where Iqbal is," said AJ.
AJ's burden is becoming heavier because of the economic slump. He could no longer stand his son's behavior. “Iqbal dropped out of school in the second year of junior high school. After that, he rarely came home. I'm confused," he said.
He was worried that his family's future would be ruined because of the fraud case. He did not want to be dragged down any further and was trying to save his family. “My wife is sickly, while Iqbal's younger sister is still in university. I'd rather live with just them. Don't let it [all] be destroyed by Iqbal's behavior," he said.
His neighbors had already heard about Iqbal’s crimes. Some of them were also deceived by Iqbal. When Kompas visited the neighborhood, people recognized Iqbal by name.
“These days, he doesn’t live here anymore. His family lives a simple life,” said Banani, the RW head.
DHANANG DAVID
Polimarim lecturer, Badaruddin, admitted that he was disappointed with Emirati Moniharapon, one of the perpetrators of the romance scam. Badaruddin considers the Emirate to have tarnished the reputation of the campus..
Tarnishing institutions
Not only that of their families, but the fraud committed by romance scammers also tarnish the reputations of the universities they attended and the places where they worked. The AMI Makassar Maritime Polytechnic (Polimarim) has repeatedly received complaints against a former student, Emirat Moniharapon (29). He was accused of defrauding four women.
The victims were taken in by Emirat, who looked pious and physically strong. Emirat deceived some of his victims via Facebook and Instagram.
Badaruddin, a member of the Polimarim faculty, was furious at the behavior of Emirat, who was a student at the time. Before, a woman identified by the initials NT came to the campus, looking for Emirat.
"She was from Malang, East Java. She came all the way with her parents just to look for Emirat. She got cheated out of Rp 20 million,” he said at Polimarim Makassar in South Sulawesi.
Badaruddin was shocked and immediately called Emirat for an explanation. He also called Emirat’s mother so the parents of both parties could meet. "In the end, the two parties signed a letter of agreement that Emirat would immediately return the money to NT," he said.
The case was not reported to the police to protect Emirat, who would be graduating from the polytechnic soon. Emirate was in the Class of 2013. While on campus, Emirat was known as a smart student who never argued with his teachers. "He has an upright posture and he is handsome. He used his looks to lure the victims,” Baharuddin said.
Badaruddin thought the matter was over. A few months after Emirat graduated, he suddenly received a call from RK (43), a woman who lived in Bekasi, West Java. She told him that Emirat had tricked her out of Rp 180 million through a romance scam. Badaruddin became irate on hearing about the incident.
“The boy has tarnished the good name of the campus. This is a serious offense. If we knew it would be like this, it would have been better if we didn't allow him [to graduate]," he said.
Emirat did not comment on this when Kompas met him. He mostly tried to clear up the allegations of fraud that RK had filed.
IRENE SARWINDANINGRUM
Leonardus Dewala (32) who is facing accusations of sexual exploitation by 74 women on his Instagram account @aliskamugemash stated that he did not accept the accusation at his home in Magelang Regency, Central Java, Wednesday (23/3/2022)..
Meanwhile, after the case of Leonardus Wahyu Dewala (32) went viral on Twitter and Instagram in 2021, the Thisable Enterprise issued a clarification through a statement so it would not get dragged into the alleged fraud case.
Dewala’s LinkedIn profile showed that he was employed at the social enterprise. According to Thisable’s statement, Dewala had not worked at the organization since October 2019. Dewala was also not a permanent employee, but was only on probation in August-October 2019.
Thisable did not want to become embroiled in any negative news involving Dewala. According to the organization, that Dewala had listed it on his LinkedIn profile was beyond its control.
Thisable issued its statement when Dewala was alleged to have defrauded 74 women via the Tinder and Bumble dating applications between 2013 and 2021.
Dewala has denied the allegations and that he even knew his accusers.
During a meeting at his home in March, Dewala admitted that he had worked at Thisable for three months. His job was to facilitate employers in recruiting people with disabilities to meet the 1 percent employment quota as stipulated in Law No. 8/2006 on persons with disabilities.
Dewala claimed he had resigned from the position because his views differed from that of the organization’s founder, Angkie Yudistia. He wanted the project he worked on to be under a registered company, not under Thisable, which was a registered foundation.
"I disagreed with him [Angkie‘because he used his foundation to make money."
Not only have the alleged perpetrators of romance scams tarnished their own reputation, but the allegations against them have also affected those around them. The organizations that were affiliated with the alleged romance scammers are trying hard to protect their good names.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
