An Indonesian company manager fabricated a violent robbery report in a bid to hide the fact he stole over $3.1 million from his employer to gamble online, police in Dairi Regency claim.
Officers said that senior officials handed the man, identified by the initials WG, IRP 297 million worth of company funds. They told him to use the money to pay the company’s annual Land and Building Tax bill, the Indonesian media outlet Waspada reported.
Instead, said Dairi police, WG frittered the entire sum away on losing online bets.
All forms of gambling are illegal in Indonesia. Courts can sentence offenders to long jail terms for placing online bets. In some parts of the country, courts can even order convicts to receive corporal punishment.
Indonesian Company Laptop Found in River
Police said they responded to reports of a robbery at the unnamed firm, with the case going viral on social media.
WG came to a police station and claimed three men had attacked him and ordered him to hand over the company’s money in Palding Jaya Village, Tigalingga District.
The man had sustained several bloody injuries, including to the face. He claimed that the muggers had made off with the company’s cash, as well as a laptop computer, a company cellphone, some documents, and gold jewelry.
However, when police investigated the claims, they uncovered inconsistencies in the man’s story.
The ruse began to fall apart completely after they found WG’s bag, containing a laptop and cell phone, in a nearby river.
Police began investigating WG’s bank transactions, eventually tracing the company’s funds to his private accounts.
Detectives confronted WG with this evidence, and WG admitted he had fabricated the entire story.
He admitted to embezzling the money to enter prize draws and gambling contests after seeing an advertisement on Facebook.
WG said he had hoped to win double the value of his stake. Instead, he lost the lot.
Fake Police Reports on Rise as Gamblers Get Desperate
Police said WG later admitted to purposefully crashing a motor vehicle into a small hut on his way home. He then used his injuries to “fabricate a story about being a mugging victim,” and compounded the wounds by “hitting his own face with a wooden block.”
Police said they have remanded WG in custody pending indictment.
Dairi police chiefs said the incident should serve as a warning to the public about the dangers of online gambling.
“This is a reminder to all of us that online gambling can damage lives,” said a spokesperson. “Don’t give in to temptation and avoid promises of quick and easy money.”
Similar cases are on the rise across the country. Earlier this year, a gambler confessed to fabricating a violent mugging report to “avoid a scolding from his wife.”
And in January, police accused a man in the Arjosari District of Pacitan Regency, East Java, of faking a similarly gruesome mugging to cover his losses on an online casino platform.
The man reportedly gouged his own hand and secretly sold his motorbike to make his story about a highway bandit attack seem more believable.
