Farouk Arnaz
National Police Won’t Let Romanian Ponzi Schemer Out of Indonesian Jail
The National Police has officially rejected a request to suspend the detention of a Romanian convicted in absentia for defrauding more than 100,000 people in his country in a massive Ponzi scheme, a top detective told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
“We can not fulfill what [Nicolae] Popa said he wanted through his two lawyers, Otto Hasibuan and Henry Yosodiningrat, to suspend his detention since Popa is not our detainee. He is wanted by Interpol at the request of the Romanian Police,” National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said. “The lawyer should ask his client to make a request directly to Interpol, not to us.”
However, Henry said: “Even though Popa’s arrest was based on the request of the Romanian Police, the National Police also issued an arrest warrant in order be able to put Popa behind bars. It’s not a mistake if we want the police to suspend his detention. Popa has promised to be cooperative and we would provide a personal guarantee” he would not flee.
Henry noted that Popa did not come to Indonesia as a tourist. “He has been living in Indonesia for more than nine years and has not committed a crime here. There are not enough reasons to put him behind bars while waiting for his extradition trial. He is not a terrorist or human rights violator, he just has disputes about money back in his county.”
Popa was arrested on Dec. 3 and is being detained at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta. Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with Romania.
The 1979 Extradition Law states that the requesting country must make an official extradition petition to the Justice Ministry through diplomatic channels, and if no extradition treaty exists between Indonesia and the requesting country, the president can decide on the matter.
Popa, according to the Romanian Times newspaper, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Bucharest court on charges of fraud in 2006.
A former manager at Romanian financial group Gelsor, Popa was sentenced along with Ioana Maria Vlas over the collapse of the fraudulent National Investment Fund (FNI) in 2000.
More than 100,000 people lost money they had invested in FNI, and the Romanian state, which had guaranteed their investments, was forced to pay out compensation of more than 100 million euros ($143.2 million).
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Valkyrie
4:51 PM January 4, 2010Is there any point for anyone to be upset, especially in this instance with the legal representatives of Popa? Like it or not, Popa is entitled to exercise his rights and if he's within the territory of Indonesia, local laws will apply.
"Kill all the lawyers" is a very rash statement to make, and if I were you gsignori, I would pay caution to the wind. You might probably end up needing one yourself.