Police seize $60,000 in bogus note haul<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police announced on Wednesday the seizure last
\nweek of counterfeit American dollars totaling $60,000, in $100
\ndenominations, from a 61-year-old resident of Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Chief of Jakarta Police detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo
\ntold reporters that the arrest of Imansyah on April 18 at his
\nhome on Jl. Bandeng II in Malaka Jaya subdistrict, Bekasi, was
\nmade based on a tip-off from two other men who were arrested
\nearlier in the day.<\/p>\n
The men were detained for red-handedly attempting to illegally
\nsell a Smith & Wesson gun along with eight .38 caliber bullets to
\nundercover police personnel.<\/p>\n
Alex, however, failed to explain why he released details of
\nthe arrests to the media a week later.<\/p>\n
He identified the first two suspects as Teguh, 32, a resident
\nof Jl. Bukit Duri in Tebet, South Jakarta, and Supaji, alias
\nBurik, 30, of Jl. Tebet Timur, also in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The two were arrested by officers from the crime and violence
\nunit at 11 a.m. on the same day,\" Alex said.<\/p>\n
According to the unit chief, Maj. Dharma Pongrekun, the story
\nbegan last month when the police received reliable information
\nabout a firearms syndicate in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Dharma then assigned some of his men to go undercover. The
\nofficers met and persuaded Teguh and Burik to sell them a
\nfirearm, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We nabbed the two when they were conducting the transaction
\nwith us near the Bekasi Barat football field,\" Dharma told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
During police questioning, Teguh and Bukri named Imansyah as
\nthe head of their illegal business. Police then rushed to
\nImansyah's house in Bekasi, he said.<\/p>\n
Besides apprehending the prime suspect, the police also found
\nthe fake U.S. banknotes and several pieces of equipment, such as
\nprinting machinery, printing paper, liquids and photocopied
\nserial numbers, allegedly used to produce the counterfeited
\ngreenback notes.<\/p>\n
Police, Dharma said, were still probing the case to find the
\npossible roles of more of Imansyah's syndicate members in the
\ncounterfeit money business.<\/p>\n
So far, he said, Imansyah had been giving false information to
\nthe police.<\/p>\n
Police, for example, checked an address on Jl. Pramuka, East
\nJakarta, following Imansyah's testimony that he got the equipment
\nand the printing paper from a man at the address named Piping
\nSaragih, whom he met some \"four to five years ago at Piping's
\nrestaurant.\"<\/p>\n
The police, however, were later informed that Piping died two
\nmonths ago, reportedly of a drug overdose.<\/p>\n
Imansyah told reporters on Thursday that he bought the gun in
\nlate 1994 from a man called Keling in Klender, East Jakarta, and
\nsince then had been waiting for a buyer.
\nBut Dharma said that his officers were fed up with Imansyah's
\nlies.<\/p>\n
\"He, for instance, told us that Teguh and Bukri were his
\nmiddlemen ... whom he employed. Why then was he unable to sell
\none gun in six years via these men?\"<\/p>\n
\"We believe that this whole 'Piping' story is just nonsense,
\nand is a cover-up,\" Dharma said.<\/p>\n
In an unrelated development, city police arrested one man on
\nWednesday for possession of a .9 caliber FN gun and 20 bullets.
\nThe man did not have a legal permit for the weapon and was
\napprehended at his residence in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Alex identified the suspect as Bagio Susanto, 24.<\/p>\n
The suspect is thought to have bought the gun for Rp 2.5
\nmillion ($300) from a noncommissioned officer, Nanang
\nAbdorrochman of the Indonesian Navy West Fleet, in Bandung, West
\nJava.<\/p>\n
Nanang, who was arrested by Bandung Police earlier in April,
\nsaid he purchased the gun for Rp 1.5 million from a man
\nidentified as Harlan bin Omar. Harlan was arrested by Bandung
\nPolice in late March. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-seize-60000-in-bogus-note-haul-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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