Inp.polri.go.id – Semarang. Criminal Investigation of Semarang Sub-regional Police arrest four fake journalists who extort State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in Semarang City. They blackmailed the victim after he was seen out of hotel and they asked for IDR 35 million. The identity of the four fake journalists were revealed by Semarang Police spoke person, Commissioner Agung Setyo Budi with four of them are: Antoni Castro (24), Herdyah Mayandanini (31), Kevin Sitinjak (23), and Halomoan Aruan (29). “The four of them are from Bekasi, West Java, and they came here,” says Commissioner Agung on Monday (11/20/2023). The criminal action occurred on August 26th, 2023 around 13:00 o’clock. The four suspects then saw the victim, initialed S, exit from a hotel in Semarang City. “In Pedurungan, S was then halted by the suspects. The four of them then immediately bombarded S with accuses of cheating with a woman and threatened him by sharing the news to the others,” Agung told. The group then asked S to pay them IDR 70 million as hush money, and if S unable to paid them, then the news would be shared through their media outlet. Herdyah, one of the fake journalists, states that he has not committed the crime before. He reportedly works for media in Jakarta called Siasat Kota. For their actions, the fake journalists were charged with Article 368 of the Criminal Code carries a maximum sentence of nine years in prison. The police also confiscated a number of pieces of evidence, including the Siasat Kota press card. (ad/as/pr/nm)