Bali Police arrest man for alleged property scam, victim reportedly lost nearly IDR400 million
A 44-year-old man identified as Lukas Pattinasarany was arrested by the Bali Police for alleged property scam, in which the victim reportedly lost nearly IDR400 million (US$28,589).
“As of today we have arrested a suspect [named] Lukas Pattinasarany, based on a report filed by Eka Harsana, who paid IDR387.5 million, but up to now development of the promised villa has not started,” said Andi Fairan, head of the general crimes unit at the Bali Police, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
Andi explained that Eka had been invited to a launching event back in May 2017 by the lead marketing of Anaya Village housing complex, which is located in the Pecatu region of southwestern Bali.
Lukas and Eka met afterwards, where the former told the latter that the houses are sold for IDR1.125 billion each, eventually leading him to start the buying process for two units and making a payment of IDR387.5 million. They allegedly signed a sale and purchase agreement with a notary, who has been identified as I Wayan Suwitra Yasa.
“On 17 September 2018 [Eka] went to check the villa location as promised by the suspect, and as it turns out there was no property development there,” Andi said.
Authorities said Lukas is the owner of PT Anaya Graha Abadi, the developer behind Anaya Village. A quick Google search of this allegedly fraudulent property links to a number of real estate agents, though most of them seem to be posts from 2017. It seems possible that there are other victims besides Eka, though authorities did not indicate that other reports about Anaya Village have been made.
Lukas was charged with Article 378 in Indonesia’s criminal code on fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
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