Actor Dude Herlino Named in PT Dana Syariah Indonesia Fraud Indictment

The name of actor Dude Herlino has surfaced in the indictment for the alleged criminal case involving PT Dana Syariah Indonesia (DSI), read out by public prosecutors at the Depok District Court on Wednesday. Herlino was mentioned in the description of transactions for payments to brand ambassadors, which allegedly originated from commingled lender funds. The indictment stated that there were expenditures for digital marketing, promotions, and brand ambassadors conducted through an affiliated company for the needs of PT DSI, using funds collected from lenders that had been commingled. The payment to the brand ambassador was made to appear as if they were a lender in the account of PT Multiguna Cipta Mandiri under the names of witness Dude Herlino and witness Anindya Alyssa Soebandono. Each was said to have received accumulated funds of Rp 750,030,000. The first hearing of the case was held with the agenda of reading the indictment against three defendants: Taufiq Aljufri, Mery Yuniarni, and Arie Rizal Lesmana. In the indictment, prosecutors also revealed the alleged modus operandi of collecting public funds through fictitious projects and an internal lender scheme. To overcome cash shortages and raise funding more massively, the founders allegedly agreed to raise lender funds using the mode of financing fictitious projects. Prosecutors explained that PT Multiguna Cipta Mandiri was allegedly positioned as if it were a borrower requiring financing, even though the company did not need funding. Several projects mentioned in the indictment include the Savana Project in Cirende, Tangerang Regency, the Kanaka Project in Krukut, Depok, and the Kiral Project in South Tangerang. Additionally, the defendants allegedly created an internal lender scenario involving employees, directors, and affiliated parties to make the offered projects appear in demand, thereby attracting the public to place funds through the PT DSI platform. The indictment also stated that during the period from 2018 to 2025, PT DSI collected lender funds amounting to Rp 5.257 trillion. Of this amount, 14,411 lenders have reportedly not received their funds back, with an outstanding value of approximately Rp 1.386 trillion. Following the reading of the indictment, defendant Taufiq Aljufri stated he would not file an exception. Meanwhile, the legal counsel for defendants Mery Yuniarni and Arie Rizal Lesmana requested a week to prepare a notice of objection as they had not yet received a copy of the indictment. The panel of judges then adjourned the trial until next Wednesday.