{"id":7817,"date":"2026-07-21T05:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/?p=7817"},"modified":"2026-07-21T05:12:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:12:32","slug":"burglar-targeted-the-same-bali-villa-three-times-to-fund-iphone-purchases-and-online-gambling-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/burglar-targeted-the-same-bali-villa-three-times-to-fund-iphone-purchases-and-online-gambling-police-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Burglar Targeted the Same Bali Villa Three Times to Fund iPhone Purchases and Online Gambling, Police Say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BULELENG, Bali<\/strong> \u2013 A 19-year-old man has been arrested after police say he repeatedly broke into the same villa in northern Bali, stealing tens of millions of rupiah from guests and using the proceeds to buy iPhones, gamble online, and redeem a pawned motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspect, identified only by his initials KPA<\/strong>, also known as “Sotong,”<\/strong> was arrested Monday morning at a boarding house in Banyualit Village, near Lovina, following an investigation by officers from Sawan Police in Buleleng Regency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Buleleng Police spokesperson Iptu Yohana Rosalin Diaz<\/strong>, investigators believe the suspect targeted Villa Manuk<\/strong> in Bebetin Village on multiple occasions over the past year, taking advantage of unsecured access to guest rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests Returned to Find a Burglar Inside<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The investigation gained momentum after the latest burglary on the evening of Saturday, July 18<\/strong>, when four Spanish tourists briefly left their room at the villa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they returned, one of the guests reportedly saw a man running toward the bathroom area before scaling a perimeter wall approximately 2.5 meters (8 feet)<\/strong> high to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tourists later discovered that approximately Rp4 million (around US$245)<\/strong> in cash and \u20ac50<\/strong> had been stolen. The incident was reported to villa management, who then contacted police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigation Led Police Across Northern Bali<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Police said officers immediately processed the crime scene with forensic specialists, interviewed witnesses, and gathered evidence that eventually pointed to the suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators searched several locations across northern Bali, including Pakisan Village, Banjar Jawa, and the Lovina area, before receiving information that KPA was staying at a boarding house on Durian Street in Banyualit Village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A team led directly by the Sawan Police Chief moved to the location and successfully arrested the suspect without resistance,” Yohana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suspect Admits Breaking Into the Same Villa Three Times<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During questioning, police said KPA admitted to carrying out three separate burglaries at the same property<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to investigators, he entered the villa by climbing over the perimeter wall before accessing an unlocked guest room<\/strong> and stealing cash belonging to visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police allege the first burglary took place in July 2025<\/strong>, when the suspect was still undergoing training, resulting in the theft of approximately Rp1.5 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He allegedly returned nearly a year later, stealing around Rp30 million<\/strong> on July 13, 2026<\/strong>, followed by another Rp5 million<\/strong> on July 18<\/strong>, before being linked to the most recent theft involving the Spanish tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities are still investigating whether additional victims may have been affected and whether all of the incidents are connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stolen Money Allegedly Spent on iPhones and Gambling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to police, KPA told investigators he spent the stolen money on several personal expenses rather than hiding the proceeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among them were the purchase of an iPhone<\/strong>, which he later resold, redeeming a friend’s motorcycle that had been pawned, and online gambling<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police also seized a motorcycle helmet and a beige T-shirt believed to be connected to the burglaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KPA remains in police custody at Sawan Police Station<\/strong>, where detectives are continuing their investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities say they are working to determine the full extent of the alleged crimes and whether other tourists or villa guests may also have fallen victim to the same suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For travelers staying in Bali, the case also serves as a reminder to lock doors and secure valuables, even during short absences, as opportunistic theft remains one of the island’s most commonly reported crimes involving visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#balinewstoday<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BULELENG, Bali \u2013 A 19-year-old man has been arrested after police say he repeatedly broke into the same villa in northern Bali, stealing tens of millions of rupiah from guests and using the proceeds to buy iPhones, gamble online, and redeem a pawned motorcycle. The suspect, identified only by his initials KPA, also known as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_food_recipe":[],"enable_food_recipe":"","food_recipe_title":"","food_recipe_description":"","food_recipe_serve":"","food_recipe_time":"","food_recipe_prep":"","food_recipe_level":"","food_recipe_keywords":"","food_recipe_category":"","food_recipe_cuisine":"","food_recipe_yield":"","food_recipe_calories":"","enable_print_recipe":"","ingredient":[],"instruction":"","jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_review":[],"enable_review":"","type":"","name":"","summary":"","brand":"","sku":"","good":[],"bad":[],"score_override":"","override_value":"","rating":[],"price":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,347,51],"tags":[47,106,314,146,82,185,174,992,535,54,908],"class_list":["post-7817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bali-news","category-bali-law","category-bali-update","tag-bali","tag-bali-expat","tag-bali-law","tag-bali-life","tag-bali-tourism","tag-bali-update","tag-buleleng","tag-buleleng-news","tag-law","tag-news","tag-theft"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7819,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817\/revisions\/7819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heybali.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}