Five Facts About Richard Lee's Arrest: Failing to Attend Investigations and a Live TikTok While Being Questioned by Police
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INFLUENCER and cosmetic doctor Richard Lee was formally detained by the Metro Jaya Police on Friday evening (6 March). The detention followed his repeated failure to attend investigators’ examinations in a case of alleged consumer-protection violations relating to cosmetic products and services.
Police say the suspect’s actions were not cooperative because he did not comply with investigators’ summons, and even conducted a live broadcast on social media during the scheduled examination.
Richard Lee has been detained after repeatedly not meeting summons. He was noted for not appearing at an examination as a suspect on 3 March 2026 without a clear reason. Additionally, he also failed to report on 23 February and 5 March 2026.
Head of Public Relations at the Metro Jaya Police, Brigadier General Budi Hermanto, said this stance was one of the grounds for detention. “The act of failing to attend was also without a clear reason,” Budi said.
On the day he was due to be examined, Richard Lee was found to have conducted a live broadcast on his personal TikTok account. This was confirmed by police based on statements provided by the suspect.
“Based on the statement given by DRL that the person concerned conducted a live TikTok in his own account for the purpose of promoting products of CV Athena as part of his work,” Budi Hermanto told reporters on Saturday (7 March).
Before detention, Richard Lee underwent interrogation by investigators for about four hours. In that interrogation, investigators posed 29 questions to the suspect concerning the case.
After the examination, Richard Lee was immediately escorted to the detention room without making statements to the media.
Police say that Richard Lee’s failure to respond to investigators’ summons shows non-compliance with the legal process.
“In short, the person concerned does not reflect a citizen who respects and obeys the law,” said Budi Hermanto.
Richard Lee was subsequently detained at the Metro Jaya Police detention facility on Friday at around 21:50 WIB.
The case originated from a report by Samira Farahnaz on 2 December 2024. She reported alleged violations concerning several cosmetic products sold by Richard Lee through a marketplace.
The products reported include White Tomato, DNA Salmon, and Miss V Stem Cell by Athena Group. Samira suspects several issues with the products, ranging from label mismatches to conditions deemed not sterile, to packaging suspected of being repackaged.
“Detention proves what I reported is a fact,” Samira said.
In this matter, Richard Lee is charged under the Health Law and the Consumer Protection Law, with penalties up to 12 years’ imprisonment and fines up to Rp5 billion.
Currently Richard Lee is in detention at the Metro Jaya Police detention facility. The director of Detention and Evidence at Metro Jaya Police, AKBP Dermawan Karosekali, said the suspect is also observing Ramadan with hundreds of other detainees.
“All Muslim detainees are required to observe the fast. Suhoor and breaking fast are provided by the state,” Dermawan said.
He added that about 300 Muslim detainees are fasting in the detention facility, including Richard Lee, treated the same as other detainees. (Z-2)
Rather than attending additional examinations as a suspect, Richard Lee instead conducted a live TikTok broadcast for product promotion.
The Metro Jaya Police formally detained Dr. Richard Lee for being non-cooperative and failing to report as required. See the police’s full reasons and penalties here.
Budi explained that the detention was triggered by Richard Lee’s conduct, which was seen as hindering the investigation.
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