Fact Check: Was Cash in NTT Earthquake Rubble Linked to Raja Juli Antoni?

A video showing stacks of cash scattered among earthquake rubble does not show corruption proceeds linked to Indonesia’s Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni. The footage is fabricated, according to Tempo’s fact check.

The clip circulated widely in mid-August 2026 with Spanish-language captions. Instagram accounts claimed it showed money found in a home damaged by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia on Aug. 10. Other social media posts recast the footage as showing U.S. dollars discovered in earthquake ruins in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, and alleged that the money belonged to Raja Juli.

Tempo tested the video with Hive Moderation, which gave it a 99.4% probability of being AI-generated. An analysis by Truth Scan likewise found a 91% probability that the cash-and-rubble footage had been artificially created.

The clip also included footage of Raja Juli speaking to journalists outside his home. That segment came from an Aug. 18 Instagram post by @pantaucom, in which reporters asked about the return of excess funds to the Corruption Eradication Commission. Tempo had previously reported that Raja Juli received an envelope from Kuantan Singingi Regent Suhardiman Amby at the Forestry Ministry on June 2. Raja Juli said an aide returned it to Suhardiman on June 12, 17 days before the KPK carried out a sting operation in Kuantan Singingi. The returned amount, however, differed by SGD 14,000. KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo said the agency was still investigating the discrepancy.

Tempo concluded that the claim connecting the cash in the video to Raja Juli and earthquake rubble in East Nusa Tenggara is false.