Don Ritto's Lawyer Claims Owners of Seized Gold and Dollars Will File Lawsuit

The legal representative for Don Ritto, Handika Hanggowongso, has claimed that the owners of the cash and gold seized by investigators from the Attorney General’s Office will file a pretrial lawsuit over the asset seizure at the South Jakarta District Court. Handika assessed that the ‘Team 9’ formed by the Attorney General’s Office made a premature decision by linking the seized money and gold to former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah. “In response to that, it is likely that the owners of the gold and money in the form of dollars, both Singapore and American, will file a pretrial lawsuit over the seizure of their assets at the South Jakarta District Court as soon as possible,” Handika explained in his statement on Saturday (25/7). However, Handika was reluctant to disclose when the lawsuit would be filed. He only asked the public to wait for the filing date. “Wait for the date,” he added. Handika said he understood the position of the Attorney General’s Office’s Team 9, which he believed was under pressure in handling the case. Therefore, he assessed that the decision taken was more political in nature to maintain the institution’s image from various narratives attacking the former Jampidsus. “In fact, the facts related to the amount of money found during the seizure and search by the Kortas, whether at De’Clan Restaurant, the money changer, or in Sentul, according to our client and other evidence, are not related to or owned by Mr. Febrie,” he explained. He said his client had explained the origin of the gold and money along with the purpose of its use. Therefore, investigators should have first tested the relevance of the evidence, both formally and materially. “It is very unfortunate that Team 9 prematurely linked the seized money and gold,” he concluded. Investigators previously seized evidence in the form of 74 kg of gold bars, Rp6 billion in cash, and millions of US and Singapore dollars from Febrie Adriansyah’s residence in Sentul, Bogor Regency, West Java, in early July. The seizure was carried out as evidence in an alleged corruption and money laundering case ensnaring both individuals. As the case developed, Don Ritto, who is also a suspect, claimed the assets did not belong to Febrie.