The number of arrests, in Morocco, of individuals wanted by Interpol can no longer be counted. According to our count, there have been at least five over the past two weeks. The “big fish” of this series is a Dutch national apprehended at the end of February in Martil, suspected of being involved in scams totaling 5.7 million euros.
The same thing happened again a few days later in Marrakesh, when the police apprehended a 63-year-old Indonesian national who was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by his country’s judicial authorities. His name: Michael Steven.
From California to Marrakesh?
In the official communication reporting his arrest, one detail intrigued us: the fact that the National Judicial Police Brigade (BNPJ) handled it, and not the local judicial police. According to what informed sources told TelQuel, it is a major catch: the mission required the intervention of a judicial super-police. Steven was indeed one of the most wanted men (and women) by Indonesia. For “financial corruption and capital market manipulation,” according to the official Moroccan version.
But more details are obtained thanks to media sources in Jakarta. With other accomplices, he allegedly raised, illegally, nearly 165 million dollars just between 2022 and 2024 and left thousands of policyholders penniless. What his country’s justice system accuses him of could earn him a ten-year prison sentence.
Interpol, at the request of Jakarta, was searching for him under a Red Notice issued on September 19, 2025. Before his arrest on March 10 in Marrakesh, he had reportedly stayed in California, where he had studied and worked several years prior. Moreover, the Indonesian authorities despaired of having him extradited from the United States.
Because wealthy individuals suspected of economic crimes often hire lawyers to contest Interpol Red Notices before the American justice system, claiming that their cases fall under civil law rather than criminal law. The majority of them are released on bail, before generally vanishing into thin air.
From glory to bankruptcy
To understand the scale of Michael Steven’s fall, one must first retrace the path he traveled. In the late 1980s, he finished his finance studies in San Francisco and decided to stay a few more years in California. Between 1988 and 1992, he worked at the firm Brody, Walsh & Brody, which handles wealth management. He held the positions of chief operating officer and marketing director there.
In Indonesia, he began to make a name for himself as early as 1999, the year he founded PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk (KREN), a traditional investment bank specializing in investment management and securities brokerage.
In 2015, he boosted the company by creating its technology incubator and investment division, Kresna Creativentures. Throughout all these years, he increased subsidiaries and equity stakes. The local and regional business press heaped praise on him.
KREN was notably selected among the best companies under a billion dollars by Forbes Asia in its July-August 2019 edition, and among the 50 best companies by Forbes Indonesia for two consecutive years, namely 2018 and 2019. He was also named best innovation CEO for three consecutive years.
In addition to his duties within his group, he chaired the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Financing Policy Committee at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).
The beginning of his troubles
But at the end of 2021, the trouble began. The Financial Services Authority revoked the license of the life insurance company Kresna Life, one of the group’s main subsidiaries. In 2023, he tried to make a back-door comeback by opting for the name PT Quantum Clovera Investama Tbk. But it was too late: he was the subject of in-depth investigations into the non-payment of his clients’ insurance policies. Another of his subsidiaries, Kresna Securities, found itself in a similar state of bankruptcy, leading to debts of several hundred million dollars.
Investigations also revealed that Michael Steven was involved in a scandal linked to another insurance company: Wanaartha Life. The owner of the latter, Evelina Pietruschka, is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice at the request of the Indonesian justice system, as are her husband and son. The latter was, moreover, arrested a few months ago in the United States.
A possible extradition
Morocco and Indonesia are not bound by a bilateral extradition treaty, as is the case between the Kingdom and some thirty countries, mostly European. The three most recent treaties of this kind were signed with Kazakhstan, Iraq, and Vietnam.
However, the absence of a dedicated treaty does not prevent the two countries, linked by over 65 years of relations, from cooperating in the fight against transnational crime, especially within Interpol. Rabat and Jakarta, in certain cases, can resort to the principle of dual criminality if a classification matching the charges brought against the person whose extradition is requested is provided for under national laws.
According to Public Prosecution Office statistics, in 2023, Morocco received 39 extradition requests. That same year, it sent 72 to foreign countries, including 10 to France, for crimes related to drug trafficking and cybercrime.
Written in French by Mohammed Boudarham, edited in English by Eric Nielson
