Celebrated Islamic fashion designer convicted of money laundering
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Hannah Beech
BANGKOK — Anniesa Hasibuan, Indonesia’s most celebrated Islamic fashion designer, made her living at the intersection of faith and commerce. Her downfall came at the same crossroads. On Wednesday, Ms. Hasibuan, who debuted at New York Fashion Week in 2016 with models wearing head scarfs, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for defrauding tens of thousands of Indonesian pilgrims hoping to travel to Mecca. She was also convicted of money laundering. With her husband, Andika Surachman, Ms. Hasibuan, 31, owned a travel agency dedicated to religious package tourism. Prosecutors said the agency, First Travel, swindled roughly $65 million from more than 63,000 people by promising to send them on holy tours to Saudi Arabia after each paid a cut-rate $1,000 fee up front. The trips never happened.[More]
By Hannah Beech
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| Anniesa Hasibuan at New York Fashion Week in February 2017. She was sentenced this week to 18 years in prison in Indonesia for defrauding religious pilgrims. Credit Neilson Barnard/Getty Images |
