Young adults involved in fights is nothing out of the ordinary in any part of the world.
Besides being a way for them to show dominance, or fighting over their influence over women, young men have been involved in more than plenty of quarrels, both physically and emotionally, throughout the history of humanity.
And many of the assailants have been criminalized.
But rarely did those cases dragged down the influence of their parents.
And it's even rarer for those cases to also create a movement that may result in a decrease income of a country.
In Indonesia, the vast archipelago country in Southeast Asia, 20-year-old Mario Dandy Satriyo assaulted 17-year-old Cristalino David Ozora Jonathan Latumahina in the evening of February 20, at the Grand Permata Cluster Boulevard Complex, at Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta.
While Mario has been named a suspect, it turned out that the case is much more complicated than that.
It all began when Mario, a student at Prasetiya Mulya University, received a heads up from his girlfriend, Agnes Gracia Haryanto, who said that David "treated her badly."
Without further hesitation, Mario drove his Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to meet David.
David was not suspicious because after all, they are friends.
However, David didn't like the accusation, and the way he responded angered Mario.
A few days later, Mario called his friend, Shane Lukas, who allegedly provoked Mario into meeting David once again and settle the dispute.
Shane told Mario to assault David.
When Mario finally met David once again, David was intimidated by Mario's threats.
Mario told Shane to hold on to his smartphone and record everything, in which he did.
Mario ordered David to do 50 pushups at first. But because he could only do 20, Mario told David to do a begging pose in front of him instead.
David refused, and this angered him.
Mario then assaulted David, and even stomped on his head and stepped on his abdomen for several times.
What was the result of a dispute between friends, has made the victim to receive intensive medical care.
Due to the repeated blow to his head, David suffers from what's called diffuse axonal injury.
Also called DAI, this is a condition where a shearing (tearing) happened to the brain's long connecting nerve fibers (axons), which can be the result of the brain that shifted or rotated while inside the skull.
While recovering from a DAI is possible, there are too many factors that affect recovery. It's fortunate that David is still young when the assault happen, which may increase the chance of total recovery, if it ever happens.
The South Jakarta Police have arrested Mario and charged him with aggravated assault.
Mario could face five years in prison if found guilty, South Jakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Nurma Devi said.
In response to this case, Prasetiya Mulya University where Mario enrolled, made a decision to expel Mario.
But things didn't stop there.
As soon as the public realized about the assault, and the case, many began to wonder how Mario could've lived in such a luxurious life, and how it was possible for him to frequently flaunts wealth.
On Instagram, for example, he posted of himself posing in front of a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, the same mid-size four-wheel drive off-road SUV he used during the assault. A few other posts show him riding expensive motorbikes, including a Harley-Davidson Street Glide and a Triumph Thruxton.
A Rubicon and a Street Glide in Indonesia Mario drove can cost $100,000, each. And a Thruxton can cost around $35,000.
Internet sleuth then wondered, how a university student in his 20 without no apparent job, could've afford that degree of wealth, during the time when the income per capita in Indonesia is only around $5,000.
Some even claimed that Mario was once spotted driving a Lamborghini supercar.
They then looked at the profile of Mario's father, which is then revealed to be a high-ranking official at Indonesia's Directorate General of Taxes.
And after more of this became public, it's then realized that it should be impossible, even for Mario's father, Rafael Alun Trisambodo, to earn enough money to afford such expensive vehicles, and a number of properties he allegedly own.
This followed the fact that Rafael had not reported all of his assets when submitting his State Administration Wealth Report (LHKPN).
It's only after this, that Rafael's net worth is revealed to be around Rp56 billion (around $4 million).
Following this, Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati decided to remove Rafael from his position and duties at the Ministry's Directorate General of Taxes.
"I asked today that [Rafael] be removed from his position and duties. I ask for a thorough examination so that a penalty can be given according to the disciplinary action that has been taken," Sri Mulyani said in a press conference, which was also attended by the Deputy Minister Finance, Suahasil Nazara.
Suahasil Nazara said that the dismissal was to facilitate the examination of Rafael, who had served as the Head of the General Section of the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Taxes.
The Minister also ordered a thorough investigation into the wealth of Rafael.
Sri Mulyani condemned the lavish lifestyle displayed by some officials in the ministry, saying that the ostentatious display of wealth from officials in the ministry “cannot be justified,” and could tarnish the image of the reform-minded ministry.
"We condemn the lavish lifestyle shown by family members of the Finance Ministry’s officials, which could erode trust toward the integrity of the Finance Ministry and create a negative impression toward other officials who have been honest and professional in their work," she said.
Sri Mulyani added, that the ministry is taking corrective steps to uphold the integrity of the institution by strengthening the internal compliance and leadership as well as taking a disciplinary procedure against officials who "abuse their authority to enrich themselves or others" and "violate the regulation of civil servants."
"Our whistle blowing or complaint system will also be continuously improved," she said.
"We will continue to work hard to manage and maintain the country’s finances properly, honestly and reliably. Taxes paid by the people are a mandate that we must protect without compromise."
And concerning Mario, the Minister also said voiced some of her own thoughts.
"So even though state apparatus purchase luxury goods with hard work and a legal salary, for example, buying a huge CC motorbike, don't go around riding the motorbike. Just take a walk with me around Senayan, that's healthy," she said.
For starters, the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi or abbreviated as KPK), is summoning Rafael to clarify his sources of wealth.
"An investigation team is on the move," said KPK's deputy for prevention and monitoring Pahala Nainggolan. "We will check [assets] under his name, his children, wife and maybe other names listed in his family card."
Rafael is a state civil apparatus, whose structural hierarchy is echelon III. In theory, his salary cannot afford such luxury. But according to Pahala, Rafael's wealth cannot be related to his profile.
He or his family members may have other businesses, or inherit something from somebody.
And just like anything else, assets should be recorded, but in which in this case, Rafael didn't report most of it.
This is why Pahala also said that KPK would also look into wealth from inheritance and grants.
"We need to know who these grants are from," Pahala said.
KPK is extremely suspicious, because the first time Rafael reported his wealth, it was back in 2011. At that time, he reported his wealth to be Rp20,49 billion.
Then, in 2015, his wealth went up to Rp35,2 billion.
In 2017, his wealth is reported to be at Rp41,4 billion.
Then, it was Rp 44,2 billion in 2019.
In 2023, he's at Rp 56,1 billion.
A rather steady, but too huge for an echelon III.
Indonesia's Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD has called on police investigators to prosecute Mario's assault case to the fullest extent of the law.
Mahfud said despite a public apology and efforts to find amiable solutions from Rafael’s family, the police should press ahead with their criminal investigation.
"There’s no such thing as an apology or amicable settlement in a legal case. We do have a restorative justice solution for minor crimes. But this assault case involving the son of an official must be legally prosecuted," Mahfud said in a tweet.
The senior security minister also called for an “administrative” probe into Rafael's wealth.
"From a legal administrative standpoint, a public official with children living hedonistic and lavish lifestyles should be investigated," he said.
But most importantly, his removal is related to the alleged assault committed by his son, Mario.
Following his removal from office, Rafael created an open letter issued on Friday, saying that he had resigned from his job, and said that he would follow the investigations and obey the legal process in relation to his son’s alleged assault.
"I, Rafael Alun Trisambodo, declare my resignation from my position and status as a state civil servant of the Directorate General of Taxes starting Friday, February 24, 2023," Rafael said in his letter circulating on social media.
"I will follow the procedure for resignation at the Directorate General of Taxes in accordance with applicable regulations. I will still undergo a clarification process regarding the State Administrators Wealth Report (LHKPN) and comply with the applicable legal process for the events committed by my child," he added.
In the video, Rafael also apologized for his son’s assault, including to the victim's family and the youth wing organization of religious organization Nahdlatul Ulama, GP Ansor.
This is because the 15-year-old victim in the assault is the son of Ansor Jonathan Latumahina, a high-ranking member of GP Ansor.
Further investigations suggest that Rafael registered the Rubicon under someone else's name.
Questions arise because, how could a family with lower-than-average income, living in a rented small house, and ride only an old motorcycle, afford a Rubicon. But Rafael stated to buying the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon from the owner whose name was listed on the papers, and sold it to his older brother.
As for the Harley-Davidson Street Glide, the vehicle isn't registered, meaning that it has no papers.
Following Mario's assault, and the revelation that his father, Rafael, didn't pay his taxes and reported all of his assets, an uproar happened in Indonesia's internet sphere.
When the public realized the lavish lifestyles Rafael and Mario, the uproar that has since been brought to social media, has been amplified using the #StopPayingTax hashtag, which has been widely circulating on Twitter and Instagram.
Things didn't stop there yet, because netizens were also hunting for all of Rafael's family members, besides just Rafael and Mario, and wish to bully them online as well.
For starters, many netizens have made poor reviews on the upper-class restaurant business of Ernie Meike Torondek, Rafael's wife. Many others claimed that Ernie also lived a flamboyant, elite-class lifestyle, by flaunting designer clothes and handbangs. Furthermore, netizens also made fun of Angelina Embun Prasasya, the couple's daughter, and Dhyaksadarma, the couple's other son.
But most of them are after Agnes Gracia Haryanto, the person who made this all happened.
If she kept things to herself, she wouldn't have provoked Mario, which in turn also made Shane to provoke Mario, ruining their friendship, resulting to the assault. David wouldn't have suffer from severe head trauma, and February 20, 2023 would've been an ordinary Monday.
But still, if it hadn't because of Agnes, the alleged corrupt Rafael would've gone unnoticed.
Agnes is still a senior high school student at Tarakanita.
It's worth noting though, that before dating Mario, Agnes was David's girlfriend.
In other words, Agnes becomes Mario's girlfriend after becoming David's.
Because of this, speculations after speculations arise, and people started sharing their own thoughts through social media posts.
For example, it's said that the reason why Agnes provoked Mario is because David had some intimate photos and videos of her when they were still a couple. Unbeknown to both Mario and Agnes, it's said that David was furious when Agnes broke up with him over his own friend, and that he allegedly threathened to leak those photos and videos to the internet.
And when Agnes allegedly realized this, he reported it to his current boyfriend, Mario, who then confronted David.
Then, reports suggest that David may have harassed Agnes by fondling her breasts, and this angered Agnes because she is Mario's girlfriend, and is no longer David's.
There is also an allegation that said Agnes frequently had sex with David, even when she's already Mario's girlfriend. It's said that upon realizing this, Mario was outraged.
Both Mario and Shane have been made suspects.
Agnes was a witness at first, before she is also made a suspect.
Netizens in Indonesia also went after her and her family, to an extent that some have even doxxed them all, and revealed her physical address.
But either way, many netizens simply piggyback the case for their own cause and purpose.
In Indonesia, public distrust toward tax officials has come and gone over cases of them distorting taxpayers’ obligations.
One of the infamous cases was Gayus Tambunan, a former low-ranking tax officer who was arrested in 2010 and then tried for multiple charges ranging from bribing law enforcers to falsifying passports. Then, in 2017, former tax auditor Handang Soekarno was found receiving bribes from then country director of a local unit of Abu Dhabi-based retail giant Lulu Group International, after recommending that the company be exempted from paying billions of rupiahs in taxes.
After further investigation, it is said that during the span of just a few years, Rafael's bank accounts have processed Rp 300 billion, or about $20 million.
And in an expected moment, Bjorka, the hacker that leaked billions of sensitive data to then taunt Indonesian officials, doxxed Rafael even more.
The hacker leaked Rafael's resident identification number, family card, home address, status, religion, education, parents' names and even his COVID-19 vaccination status. The hacker also leaked more data about his wealth, to also include some vehicles that went unnoticed by the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission.
With eyes on the case, especially on Rafael, KPK moved swiftly.
Among others, this happened soon after KPK found that Rafael stores a large amount of cash in a bank's safe deposit box.
According to reports, Rafael stored Rp 32,2 billion, or around $2 million worth of money, in hard cash.
In call, Rafael had the money in three different foreign currencies: U.S. dollars, Singapore dollars, and Euro.
Months after the case, and amid reports about how slow the authorities respond to the case, many people became frustrated.
Among them, include Alto Banditos, who is none other than David's uncle.
He tweeted in frustration on Twitter, saying how he was tired of the developments in the persecution case against Mario Dandy, which until now has not found a solution.
Dear Polda Metro Jaya -
Kami, keluarga David Ozora yang mengikuti perkembangan kasus hukum atas tersangka utama Mario Dandy, penganiaya berat dengan perencanaan atas anak kami David merasa capek dengan ketidakjelasan perkembangan kasus ini.
Untuk itu maka kami merasa sebaiknya… pic.twitter.com/ApbbDF1gnO— Alto Banditos (@AltoLuger) May 22, 2023
In September, Mario Dandy was sentenced to 12 years in prison and is obligated to pay restitution of Rp25 billion.
The panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court, in their verdict, declared that Mario was "proven beyond a reasonable doubt guilty" of committing the assault.
In another part of the verdict, the panel of judges also ordered Mario to sell or auction his Jeep Rubicon car, in order to "partially reduce the restitution" that must be paid to the victim, David Ozora.
"It's okay," Mario said.
Previously, prosecutors requested Mario Dandy to pay restitution (compensation) to David amounting to Rp120 billion during the indictment hearing on August 15th.
In response to this demand, Mario stated at first said that he is willing to pay the restitution according to his ability. However, he later admitted that he cannot afford to pay the full amount.
Mario openly appealed to the panel of judges regarding his situation as he is going through a legal process.
"Currently, I am serving a criminal sentence without any income and without any assets," said Mario, whose father, Rafael, has been removed from his position as the Directorate General of Taxation (DJP).