Indonesian charity allegedly embezzles Lion Air crash funds

Scandals at well-known Indonesian charity Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) have rocked the nation, as the organization allegedly misused donations including those for victims of the Lion Air crash in 2018. Investigators suspect that part of 1.7t rupiah ($114m) in contributions was even transferred to terrorist organizations, exacerbating the scandal. When Neuis Marfuah's daughter died at the age of 23, her mother was bereft. Her daughter, Vivian Hasna Afifa, was a passenger aboard Lion Air Flight JT 610, which crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Oct. 29, 2018. Marfuah struggled to make sense of the tragedy in the months that followed. Yet following the crash that claimed the lives of all 189 passengers and crew, one glimmer of hope emerged for Marfuah and her family in the form of the Boeing Community Investment Fund (BCIF). The $50m fund was established by Boeing in 2020 "to support communities affected by Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accidents" and "empower families who lost loved ones to support charitable organizations in affected communities," according to Boeing's website. Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 crashed on March 10, 2019, just five months after the Lion Air tragedy, prompting families of the victims on both planes to take legal action against Boeing. The U.S. manufacturer had supplied the 737 Max planes. In both cases, it was found that identical flight control systems on the planes had malfunctioned. As part of the settlement the BCIF was created, with the funds distributed to charities chosen by families across the globe, including Marfuah, who selected ACT. "I chose ACT because it was a popular social and charitable body and I trusted that the money was safe with them," she said. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Story has details.<br/>