Married couple accused of stealing from Bibi Kelinci pay Rp1.1 million after going viral, but did not inform the restaurant

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A husband-and-wife pair suspected of taking a number of meals from Bibi Kelinci at Kemang, Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, paid for their purchases after the incident went viral.

According to a clarification letter and a civil suit by the couple identified by the initials ZK and ERS, both confessed to paying twice. The first payment of Rp 550,000 was made by cash deposit on 27 September 2025, eight days after the incident. On the same day, the perpetrators also served a cease-and-desist letter to the restaurant owner, Nabilah O’Brien.

Meanwhile, the second payment was made a month later via transfer, with the same amount of Rp 550,000.

‘Nabilah and Kevin (the husband of Nabilah O’Brien) must acknowledge that they have received Rp 550,000 twice through cash deposit and transfer in the name of ZK,’ the perpetrators said in their complaint, cited on Saturday (7 March 2026).

However, Nabilah said she was not aware of the payments. She only learned that ZK and ERS had transferred the money after the case circulated in the police.

‘Based on the latest examination, investigators showed evidence of payment in the name of Mr Z,’ said Nabilah’s legal representative, Goldie Natasya Swarovksi, at a press conference on Friday (6 March 2026).

Goldie affirmed that the payments were made without any confirmation to the restaurant or to Nabilah, who had been in direct communication with ZK from the outset.

‘The payments just arrived. There was no confirmation to our client at all. So we are really puzzled,’ he said.

Although payments had been made, according to Goldie, the crime committed by ZK and ERS could not be dismissed so easily. He said the police considered the evidence submitted by Nabilah in her report to be sufficient to designate the couple as suspects of theft.

‘Even though they have paid, the theft still occurred in full here. This is the crime scene (the restaurant). The CCTV is real, the victims are real, the material losses are real. Z and E have also become suspects at the police station,’ Goldie added.

Separately, the Mampang Prapatan Police Chief, AKP Dian Purnomo, said they had scheduled the summons of ZK and ERS for questioning as suspects on 9 March 2026.

‘The suspects are scheduled for interrogation on Monday, 9 March 2026, but their counsel has sent a letter requesting a postponement of the interrogation,’ Dian said when contacted by Kompas.com.