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Elderly Indonesian Woman Faces Losing Home Amid Allegations of Land Fraud
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Crime & Justice

Elderly Indonesian Woman Faces Losing Home Amid Allegations of Land Fraud

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Under investigation
  • An elderly woman in Sleman, Indonesia, is at risk of losing her family's inherited property due to alleged land mafia tactics.
  • Lanjarsari (70) claims her late husband's land certificates were fraudulently transferred and used as collateral for bank loans without her knowledge.
  • Legal aid is assisting Lanjarsari and her family, who are contesting the land's transfer and seeking to reclaim their assets.

An elderly woman in Sleman, DI Yogyakarta, is facing the potential loss of her family's inherited property, allegedly due to the actions of a land mafia. Lanjarsari, 70, claims that two plots of land in Sleman, left by her late husband, Komaridin, have been fraudulently transferred and used as collateral without her family's consent.

The land certificates for two plots of land, which were originally registered in the name of the late husband Lanjar, have allegedly been embezzled.

— CNN IndonesiaReporting on the initial discovery of the land certificate issue.

The land certificates, one in Maguwoharjo spanning 471 square meters and another in Wedomartani covering 274 square meters, were reportedly transferred to an individual identified by the initials PW, a known acquaintance of Lanjarsari's late husband. Lanjarsari and her heirs only became aware of the situation in May 2024 after receiving a first warning letter from a private bank regarding the land's use as collateral.

Hengky Widhi Antoro, head of the Legal Aid and Consultation Center (PBKH) at Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University, is providing legal assistance to Lanjarsari and her family. He stated that his client suffered losses due to alleged unlawful acts concerning the transfer of rights to the two land plots. The family found the situation suspicious because they never signed any sale and purchase agreements or participated in any transfer process for the land.

It suddenly happened that the name transfer occurred (certificates of two land assets) which, incidentally, Mrs. Lanjar never knew about.

— Hengky Widhi AntoroDescribing the suspicious transfer of land ownership.

Antoro noted that the loan secured against the Maguwoharjo land certificate amounted to Rp284,892,400, with the amount for the Wedomartani plot yet to be determined. The family suspects a non-performing loan situation led to the bank's warning. They discovered a statement dated January 20, 2011, signed by PW, which acknowledged that the Maguwoharjo land certificate would not be used or exploited without the owner's permission, and was intended for welfare purposes.

That document acknowledges that the use of the land is for the purpose of welfare.

— PWStating the intended use of the land in a 2011 declaration.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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