Fugitive for 2.5 Years, Land Fraud Convict in Rau Captured

The convict had been on the wanted list for about 2.5 years. Pekanbaru, (ANTARA) - The Fugitive Capture Task Force (Tabur) of the Riau High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati), along with the Siak District Prosecutor’s Office (Kejari), has arrested M. Sofyan Sembiring, the convict in a land fraud case who had been at large for 2.5 years. Head of the Legal Information and Public Relations Section of the Riau High Prosecutor’s Office, Zikrullah, in Pekanbaru on Friday, stated that the convict was captured in Pekanbaru City on Thursday (30/4) without resistance. “The convict had been on the wanted list for approximately 2.5 years. During that time, the individual moved around, including in Siak and Duri, making the tracking process quite difficult,” he said. He explained that in the previous legal process, the Siak District Court had initially declared Sofyan free from legal charges. However, the prosecutor filed a cassation appeal, and the Supreme Court, through Decision No. 1315 K/Pid/2023 dated 9 November 2023, revoked that decision. According to Zikrullah, upon arrest, Sofyan was still using his real identity and claimed ignorance of the cassation decision. He also stated that he did not feel guilty, believing his case had concluded with the first-instance acquittal. The case began in August 2016 in Rawang Air Putih Village, Siak Regency, when Sofyan offered 30 hectares of land to the victim, Edi Kurniawan Tarigan, which later expanded into an agreement for up to 100 hectares. The victim then transferred money in stages to the perpetrator and his wife from 2017 to 2019. However, the promised land was never obtained, and the victim received problematic documents, some of which were even withdrawn. When the victim attempted to take possession of the land in 2020, the site was found to be controlled by other parties, complete with gates and ownership signs. As a result of the incident, the victim suffered losses of around Rp1.125 billion.