Farouk Arnaz

Police to Question Brunei Citizen as Witness in Scam

The National Police announced on Wednesday that a Brunei citizen would be questioned as a witness in connection with a scam investigation.

The police are seeking to determine the identity of a senior Brunei government official who reportedly transferred Rp 20 billion ($1.9 million) to a bank account set up by a group of Indonesian con artists.

“We will question [the Brunei citizen] as a witness,” said Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko, deputy chief of the National Police’s criminal investigation unit.

However, he did not give the name of the witness or say if a summons had already been sent.

Last week, the police arrested a group of people who reportedly posed as representatives of a prominent local political party to solicit money from foreign and Indonesian officials.

The suspects allegedly compiled information about high-profile figures from Indonesia and elsewhere via the Internet, newspapers and the White and Yellow Pages. A member of the group reportedly posed as Andi Malarangeng, a presidential spokesman, to swindle the Brunei official and other victims.

Police officials said on Tuesday that they were unable to determine the sources of the funds because two suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the scam, were still at large.

Asked if the police would enlist the help of the Financial Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK) to track down the sources of the money, Hadiatmoko said, “We have not decided yet.”

PPATK spokesman Natsir Kongah told the Jakarta Globe the center was ready to assist the police in tracking the flow of money and identifying other victims of the scam.

“If the police ask for our help, we will be glad to help them,” Natsir said, adding that the PPATK could track down suspicious financial transactions.

“If we find any suspicious accounts, we will make an analysis and report it to the police,” he said, adding that it was legal for a foreign national to transfer Rp 20 billion to an Indonesian account.

Efforts to track down the victims may also be hampered by the fact that the suspects closed the bank accounts immediately after withdrawing the money.

The recovered, Hadiatmoko said, is now being held in a frozen bank account at a Bank Mandiri branch in Cempaka Putih, North Jakarta.

There have been rumors that the Brunei official involved was Sultan Halsanah Bolkiah, but Hadiatmoko said that there was no evidence to suggest the sultan’s involvement.

Under election laws, political parties are not allowed to receive donations from foreign companies or individuals, and any such violation could result in their disqualification from elections.

“We will charge the suspects with the Anti-Money Laundering Law and Article 378 of the Criminal Code on using fake identification,” Hadiatmoko said.

Violations carry a maximum jail sentence of six years each.

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