Farouk Arnaz & Ferry Irwanto

Police Yet to Identify Brunei Official in Scam

The National Police are still trying to determine the identity of a senior Brunei government official who reportedly transferred Rp 20 billion ($1.9 million) to a group of con artists, a police official said on Tuesday.

The police on Monday announced the arrest of a group said to have swindled the money from the Brunei official by posing as representatives of a prominent Indonesian political party and asking for election donations from both foreign and Indonesian officials.

“The key thing is to find out the owner of the money, because we’ll return it once judges have issued a verdict,” Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko, deputy chief of the National Police’s criminal investigation unit, told the Jakarta Globe.

The suspects — identified as Roni Hermawan, Mutiara Putri, Ida Mulyani, Rudi Chaerul, Sudirman, Nenden Sintawati, Reffi, Basri Atika, Andi Akbar, Vera Agustina, Siswanto, Bambang and Malik — allegedly compiled information about high-profile figures from Indonesia and elsewhere via the Internet, newspapers and the White and Yellow Pages.

Hadiatmoko confirmed that a member of the group posed as Andi Malarangeng, a presidential spokesman, to swindle the Brunei official and other victims.

“We’re considering questioning [Andi Malarangeng] as a witness,” he said, without revealing whether police had already contacted the spokesman.

The suspects allegedly made phone calls to their victims and asked them to deposit money into bank accounts they had set up.

The money, according to Hadiatmoko, 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 money came from Brunei Sultan Halsanah Bolkiah, but Hadiatmoko said that there was no evidence to suggest the sultan’s involvement. “I’ve also heard the rumor that the money came from him, but we have to wait and make sure by questioning the detained suspects,” he said.

“The problem is that only two people know exactly where the money came from, but unfortunately they are still at large.”

Hadiatmoko said that investigators believed the two suspects still at large, including the suspected mastermind, had fled Java. “This case will become clear when we arrest them.”

It is illegal for foreign governments or companies to make campaign contributions to Indonesian parties or candidates.

Andi refused to comment on rumors that he would be questioned as a witness. “Ask the police, ask the police,” he said.

Police have also questioned Lusman Pangaribuan, the head of state-owned PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s Cikarang branch in West Java, and Siswanto, the head of the Kediri district education office in East Java. They reportedly fell victim to the scam by transferring Rp 50 million each to the group’s bank account.

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