Observer Questions Legal Basis of Money Laundering Case Against Former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah
Legal practitioner Muhammad Kapitra Ampera has highlighted the money laundering case involving former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (JAM-Pidsus) Febrie Adriansyah, who has been named a suspect. Kapitra questioned the predicate crime underlying the corruption case that led the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) to name Febrie Adriansyah a suspect in the alleged money laundering (TPPU) case.
“Now we are talking about the title itself — TPPU requires a predicate crime. What exactly is the primary offence? Suddenly there is massive news coverage and opinion saying this is TPPU,” said Kapitra in a statement on Tuesday (28/7).
Kapitra noted that much information and opinion has been circulating in society recently regarding the alleged money laundering committed by Febrie, from the cafe business to money stored at his home. He questioned whether the cash and gold found during searches were proceeds of crime such as money laundering or bribery, and if so, who the giver was.
“TPPU means the proceeds of a crime are then laundered — placed in a legitimate business, that is money laundering. But the business itself is legal. If the money is simply stored at home, that is concealing the proceeds of crime. What is the crime? If it is bribery, who paid the bribe? It is unclear what this suspect’s position is today, this Febri, isn’t it?” he added.
Kapitra further questioned the origin of Febrie’s money, whether it came from bribery that influenced law enforcement policy decisions or something else.
“But a bribe is a payment that influences a decision. Right or wrong, there is a transaction involved. So which case is this?” he said.
He therefore urged the Attorney General’s Office handling Febrie’s case to explain the situation clearly so that the public is not left with unanswered questions.
“What happened with Febri? Money was found here and there. Fine. But money that is the proceeds of what crime? It must be explained to the public. Bribery? Extortion? Who was extorted, who was bribed, and who paid the bribe? Because both the giver and the receiver are perpetrators of the crime,” he said.
Previously, the Attorney General’s Office named Febrie a suspect in the alleged money laundering case. Febrie was immediately detained for the next 20 days at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detention centre in South Jakarta.
Deputy Attorney General for Supervision Rudi Margono revealed the alleged money laundering modus operandi carried out by the former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes.
“The general modus operandi of the alleged TPPU committed by a state official while serving as a prosecutor or structural official during his tenure at the Attorney General’s Office,” said Rudi at the Attorney General’s Office on Friday, 24 July 2026.
Rudi has not, however, explained the details of the alleged modus, saying it formed part of the prosecution’s evidentiary strategy.
“I will not go into further detail because it relates to our evidentiary strategy, and disclosing it would greatly complicate matters going forward,” he said.