You can buy a lot of things with billions of dollars, but apparently, a basic background check isn't one of them.
An incredible joint investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Indonesian publication Tempo has blown the lid off a massive geopolitical scandal. Gaurav Srivastava, an Indian-origin businessman, managed to worm his way into the highest echelons of Indonesia’s defense establishment. How? By simply telling people he was an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
It sounds like a bad Hollywood script, but it worked. Before the house of cards collapsed, companies controlled by Srivastava secured five preliminary defense agreements with Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense and a state-owned defense firm. We're talking letters of intent and memorandums of understanding to procure heavy-hitting military hardware—36 F-15 fighter jets, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, C-130 transport aircraft, and a joint operations command and control center.
The man sitting across the table from him during these ceremonies? None other than Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s current President, who was serving as the country's defense minister at the time.
Here is how a smooth-talking businessman bypassed international security protocols to pitch fighter jets to a future president.
The Art of the Intimate Con
Gaurav Srivastava didn't just walk into a government building with a fake badge. He built a psychological profile that made him indispensable to Prabowo Subianto. According to Dutch oil trader Niels Troost—who eventually fell out with Srivastava and filed explosive lawsuits in California and New York—Srivastava went out of his way to establish deep personal proximity to the Indonesian leader.
Troost recalled a drive to Prabowo’s Garuda Yaksa estate in Hambalang, West Java, back in mid-2022. During the trip, Srivastava dropped highly specific, intimate details about Prabowo’s personal habits—the kind of inside knowledge only a trusted confidant would possess. He bragged that he frequently visited and stayed at the estate. Prabowo even had a nickname for him: "Mr. G."
But the real masterstroke was how Srivastava claimed to have used his "CIA connections" to solve Prabowo's biggest personal headaches. He allegedly claimed credit for two massive milestones:
- Helping identify the terrorists behind the tragic 2002 Bali bombings.
- Single-handedly orchestrating Prabowo’s removal from a two-decade-long US immigration blacklist, which had been imposed over alleged human rights abuses during his military career.
If you are Prabowo, and a man appears to have cleared your name with Washington while knowing your favorite breakfast foods, you don't question his credentials. You sign the paperwork.
Follow the Fake Covert Money
The deception didn't stop at defense deals. To pull off a con of this scale, you need massive capital, and Srivastava allegedly found it by tricking his business partners.
According to legal complaints filed by Troost, Srivastava was a "brazen con man of remarkable skill." Troost was so convinced of Srivastava's deep-state intelligence ties that he actually transferred a 50% stake in his own company to him.
Later, Srivastava allegedly arranged a $51 million loan from their joint company to the Arsari Group, a massive Indonesian conglomerate run by Hashim Djojohadikusumo—who happens to be President Prabowo’s younger brother. Srivastava told Troost the massive loan was required to fund a "covert US government program."
Instead of funding a spy ring, Srivastava allegedly convinced the Arsari Group to route nearly half of that $51 million loan directly back to him. What did he do with the cash? He bought a $25 million mansion in Los Angeles. He tried to siphon off the rest of the loan too, but the Arsari Group finally smelled a rat and shut down the transaction.
Damage Control in Jakarta
Srivastava has violently denied the allegations, writing on his website that the claims of him posing as a CIA operative are "gross fabrications." Meanwhile, the Indonesian government is scrambling to put out the fire.
The defense ministry has pointed out that while the preliminary agreements were signed, Indonesia ultimately pulled the plug and did not move forward with any of the actual multi-billion-dollar purchases. Defense Ministry spokesperson Edwin Adrian Sriaat stated that the country’s procurement process always prioritizes national interest, good governance, and strict compliance.
Yet, the fact that an individual facing prior legal disputes in California could get close enough to snap photos at signing ceremonies with a future president is a staggering failure of counter-intelligence.
Spotting the Red Flags
This entire debacle exposes a massive vulnerability in how high-level international business and politics intersect. Sophisticated con artists rarely get caught because of their paperwork; they get caught when people start cross-referencing their narratives.
If you want to protect your own organization or business from high-level fraudsters, keep these rules in mind:
- Direct verification always wins: Never accept a third party's explanation for why they have government clearance. Real intelligence assets do not boast about lifting international blacklists during a casual car ride.
- Audit the personal relationships: Fraudsters rely on manufactured intimacy. They drop names and exploit family ties—like targeting a politician's brother—to build unearned trust.
- Trace the capital loop: If a business partner asks for a loan earmarked for a "covert" or "restricted" project, but the money takes a detour into personal luxury real estate, the relationship needs to end immediately.
