•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, was one of the victims defrauded recently by a ring of Indonesian con artists, National Police confirmed on Friday.

Comr. Gen. Susno Adi, who heads the National Police’s criminal investigation unit, said that a victim previously identified as a senior Brunei government official who had reportedly transferred Rp 20 billion ($1.9 million) to the con artists was the sultan.

“Yes, the victim is the boss,” he told journalists here. Asked explicitly whether he was referring to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Susno said, “Yes, it is him.”

However, the fraudsters, who have admitted to impersonating senior Indonesian officials, did not talk directly to the sultan, he said. “They only talked with the sultan’s adjutant, who was called from Jakarta.”

The police have said that two members of the ring are still on the run, but they have arrested 13 members — identified as Roni Hermawan, Mutiara Putri, Ida Mulyani, Rudi Chaerul, Sudirman, Nenden Sintawati, Reffi, Basri Atika, Andi Akbar, Vera Agustina, Siswanto, Bambang and Malik.

Susno’s deputy, Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko, said separately that police obtained information that the ring members had contacted the sultan’s adjutant from the Bruneian police.

“We held a meeting with a senior police officer from the Bruneian Police headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday,” Hadiatmoko said. He declined to provide further details.

A police source close to the investigation identified the visiting officer as Superintendent Pg. Zaidi, who heads the Special Investigation Unit of the Special Investigation Department.

Some of the fraudsters had posed as presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng and the president himself in their telephone conversation, demanding that funds be transferred to accounts here. It was not immediately clear what the fund was demanded for.

Although it is legal to transfer funds into Indonesia, it is illegal for foreign governments or companies to make campaign contributions to Indonesian political parties or candidates.

The money, according to Hadiatmoko, has been recovered from the ring and was now held in a frozen bank account at a Bank Mandiri branch in Cempaka Putih, North Jakarta.

Police have also questioned two other alleged victims.

The Brunei Embassy here was closed Friday and its officials could not be immediately reached for comment.