[custom_adv] Anniesa Hasibuan (born 1986) is an Indonesian fashion designer. Born in Jakarta, she opened her first boutique in Kemang in early 2015. She made her fashion debut in London in March 2015, and has travelled to Europe and the United States to showcase her work. [custom_adv] In September 2016, at her debut show at New York Fashion Week her collection featured the hijab in every look. However, it has been indicated that she had paid a fortune so that her work could be featured during the fashion week. [custom_adv] Later she was arrested together with her husband after the revelation that her company "First Travel" has committed a hajj scam by using the Ponzi scheme. [custom_adv] On 30 May 2018, Hasibuan was jailed for 18 years for fraud, after prosecutors found she had embezzled 848 billion rupiah (US$60 million) paid by customers to organize pilgrimages that never took place. Her husband was jailed for twenty years and they both received a 10 billion rupiah fine. [custom_adv] Forbes Indonesia has removed Anniesa Hasibuan from its 2017 Inspiring Women list, after the co-founder of travel agency First Travel is named a suspect in a police investigation for carrying out an umrah (minor haj) scam. [custom_adv] The magazine in a press statement posted on its official Facebook page on Aug. 23 cited the ongoing legal case as a reason of consideration for the retraction. [custom_adv] "After considering the recent development of the First Travel fraud case, Forbes Indonesia has decided to withdraw the recognition given to Anniesa Hasibuan as our Inspiring Woman figure," the statement said. [custom_adv] Anniesa, the owner and director of PT First Anugerah Karya Wisata, or First Travel, has been named a fraud suspect together with her husband Andika Surachman, the president director of the company. [custom_adv] Forbes stated that the decision to include Anniesa on the list was originally made early this year when the case hadn't appeared in public. [custom_adv] "Forbes Indonesia endorses ethical business practices and wishes to inspire others to achieve their success through ethical means of doing business," Forbes Indonesia said. [custom_adv] Other figures who entered the list of Forbes Indonesia Inspirational Women include Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) commissioner Destry Damayanti.
