Three Kidnappers of State Bank Branch Manager Ilham Pradipta Charged with Premeditated Murder

Jakarta—Three principal defendants in the kidnapping and murder of Mohammad Ilham Pradipta, a branch manager (Kacab) at a state-owned bank, have been charged with premeditated murder.

The three defendants are Candy (alias Ken), Dwi Hartono, and Antonius Aditia Maharjuni. They are alleged to have planned both the kidnapping and murder of Ilham.

The charges were read during a hearing at the East Jakarta District Court on Monday, 9 March 2026.

“Committing a criminal offence as an accomplice with prior deliberation to unlawfully deprive another person of life,” the public prosecutor stated, as cited in the East Jakarta District Court case management system on Friday, 13 March 2026.

In the indictment, prosecutors revealed that Ilham’s murder originated from Ken’s plan to obtain data on branch heads of state-owned banks. The intention was to recruit them to cooperate in relation to unauthorised fund transfers from customer accounts, specifically dormant accounts which could be accessed without the account holder’s knowledge.

In June 2025, Ken obtained information regarding a dormant customer account at the state-owned bank’s Cempaka Putih branch containing approximately 455 billion rupiah.

“Thereafter, defendant I Candy (alias Ken) contacted defendant II Dwi Hartono to plan the transfer of funds from the dormant account at the Cempaka Putih branch in Central Jakarta to a receiver account already prepared by defendant I Candy (alias Ken),” the prosecutor said.

Subsequently, Dwi contacted defendant Antonius Aditia Maharjuni to participate in the planned fund transfer scheme.

“Ken had attempted several times to recruit bank branch heads to cooperate, but none of the bank branch heads were willing to work with him,” the prosecutor stated.

Consequently, to ensure the fund transfer scheme would succeed, the defendants devised two scenarios.

The first scenario involved using force or threats of violence against the victim. If the plan succeeded, the victim would be released.