Influencer runs away with IDR20 billion arisan money, arrested after flaunting luxurious Bali lifestyle

Photos: Instagram
Photos: Instagram

It’s really not the brightest idea to show off your luxurious lifestyle when you’re on the run after being accused of stealing people’s money, but one Instagram influencer from Medan, North Sumatra is reportedly under police investigation for doing exactly that. 

The selebgram (a terrible Indonesian portmanteau that combines the words “seleb” for celebrity and “gram” for Instagram), identified as DRA, first made headlines late last year following reports that she ran away with billions of rupiah taken from a rotating community savings scheme, locally known as arisan, that she spearheaded.

Members of the arisan took to Instagram and urged her to return their money, leading to DRA to turn off her comments section at some point. She reportedly ran away with IDR20 billion (US$1.38 million), while her Instagram account appears to have been deactivated at the time of writing. 

DRA’s whereabouts remained unknown for months until she uploaded some photos on Instagram recently, where she flaunted the high life in Bali, according to reports. 

With tens of thousands followers on the platform, perhaps it was a real challenge for DRA to resist showing off. After all, according to some reports, she amassed plenty of arisan members who were attracted to the wealthy lifestyle she put on display. 

It is unclear if DRA’s Bali posts have aided authorities in their efforts to locate her, but police confirmed this week that the selebgram is being investigated by officers at Percut Sei Tuan sub-precinct in Medan. 

“Yes, the suspect is undergoing investigation,” the sub-precinct chief, Janpiter Napitupulu, told Tribun on Tuesday.

Read more news and updates from Bali here.




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