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If someone with political clout were to promise you that with a little magic and prayer — and in exchange for some cash and gold — all of your wishes could come true, what would you do?

Police say at least two people, and possibly many more, decided to pay up — big time.

A former Tangerang mayor, Agus Djunara, and his wife, Andi Putri Zahara, are being questioned by police after two of their alleged victims reported that they had been scammed out of billions of rupiah.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharuddin Djafar said detectives were expecting more people to come forward as the investigation into the alleged fraud continued.

Agus, who served as mayor of Tangerang from 1998 to 2002, and his wife are alleged to have duped people with magical illusions and trickery, Baharuddin said.

According to the officer, the victims were made to believe they could get anything they wished for if they handed over money or jewelry as part of a religious vow, or nazar, that was said to involve a noted religious leader in Mecca. This influential imam, the victims were told, would make sure all the wishes would come true, in exchange for the gifts.

“Both suspects have been tricking people since 2003,” Baharuddin told reporters over the weekend.

He added that officers had seized seven kilograms of fake gold jewelry, 300 grams of fake diamonds, two traditional Javanese ceremonial daggers, or kris, two “magical” rubies, black magnetic stones and documents confirming that money transfers had been made to the bank accounts of the suspects.

He said the two suspects, who were arrested last month, would be charged under Article 378 of the Criminal Code for fraud. The article carries a maximum punishment of six years in prison.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Hilman S., from the Jakarta Police, said the suspects had also used their political clout to get into contact with government officials and entrepreneurs with the aim of defrauding them.

Hilman said Agus would convince his victims to hand over money and jewelry in exchange for promises that their wishes would come true.

“There were plenty of requests,” he said. “Some people wanted their wealth increased massively, while others hoped they could undertake the hajj pilgrimage soon.”

Besides being told to hand over money or jewelry, Hilman said, victims would also be advised by the suspects to visit mosques in cities all over the country, including Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Lampung, Palembang and Bandung.

The two people who filed police complaints against Agus and Andi have been identified as the owner of a jewelry store in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, whose name was not given, and Darojat, a religious from Bandung.

“We believe that there are still many more people out there who have been duped by these two suspects,” Hilman said.

He said a police complaint had been filed against the two in 2005, but they left the country for Malaysia before they could be questioned. He did not offer details of the 2005 complaint.

“In 2007 we issued an international arrest warrant for the two of them,” he said. “We were later informed by the police in Malaysia that they had been arrested there for duping Malaysians in a similar scam. But after serving their jail terms overseas they came back to Indonesia and just picked up where they left off.”