TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The pictures and videos on social media would surely impress the gullible and those of limited intelligence. He wore a chemise and turban like a learned holy man. Sitting on a chair, his face pale and his cheeks plump, looking relaxed. He said nothing.
Then, he did something astonishing. He produced wads of 'cash' not only from his pockets, but also from his sides and back, which he threw around as if they were worthless. Fifty-thousand and one-hundred-thousand rupiah bills piled up on the floor in front of him.
Kanjeng Dimas Taat Pribadi, the 46-year-old 'miracle man' is now locked in a police cell. But dozens of his followers patiently wait for him at his Islamic boarding school, the Dimas Kanjeng Residence Foundation in the village of Sumber Cengkelek, East Java. They hope that the money they deposited described as a dowry with him will magically reappear and increase manifold. We hope the local government will be able to convince them to go home.
Taat is just an ordinary person who, it is fair to say, realized that he was surrounded by many people who were 'suffering' and who had the same dream: to become rich without having to work hard. In a nation where many people still believe in the irrational like the idea that water can easily be turned into fuel Taat had no problem attracting followers. He simply needed to polish his act, and to produce a few surprises, photos and videos showing his 'powers'. The rest were promises and the ability to convince his victims.
This is how the story of Taat began: He had a moneybag that could produce gold and unlimited amounts of money; a box that turns play money into real cash in just a few days' time; and the ability to 'draw' gold out of the ground. His followers could get these riches as long as they deposited money with him.
Greed overcame common sense. Those who lost their sense of reason were not just ordinary people farmers, laborers, retired civil servants but even Indonesian Military (TNI) officers and academics with doctorate degrees. This type of swindle, to a certain extent, can be kept quiet. This is why the police say that Taat was behind the murders of Abdul Ghani and Ismail Hidayah, two of his staff who wanted to reveal the truth behind Taat's lies. His arrest on September 22 also revealed his supernatural power of duplicating money for the last eight years.
There is as yet no exact figure for the amount of money Taat scammed from his followers. Some believe it could be in the trillions of rupiah. This could be correct, given his thousands of devotees and the reports of former followers who claim to have handed over hundreds of billions of rupiah. We know that more people prefer to remain silent than those who have spoken out. Firstly, they would be embarrassed if it was known they had fallen victim to Taat's scheme. Secondly, they still believe they would get their money back many times over and if they report this, they would lose it all.
The police must solve this murder and swindle case. Given how long the money 'multiplication' has been going on, we can rightly ask: Where were the police and officials tasked with overseeing Islamic boarding schools like the one established by Taat? Or did they turn a blind eye because they received 'something' from Dimas Kanjeng?
The involvement of security forces in Taat's swindles must be uncovered. The revelation that several TNI personnel were involved in the murders of Ghani and Ismail shows that Taat used the military for protection when he was hoodwinking people. In order to uncover all of Taat's crimes, the police just needs to work hard and have the will to solve the case, no matter who turns out to have been involved or who were behind them.
We hope nobody else will be deceived by a person like Taat. Our leaders must always set an example, and show that hard work and rational thinking is the way to betterment not people who promise help from the supernatural world. (*)
Read the full interview in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
