Police study insider roles in ticket scam<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City Police are trying to determine how a recent
\nticket scam at Merpati Nusantara Airlines, which has inflicted Rp
\n15.6 million (US$6,000) in losses to the state-run airline,
\ndeveloped.<\/p>\n
Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said Thursday that an arrested
\nsuspect in the case could not have operated alone without the
\nhelp of airline staff in letting passengers board planes without
\nproper tickets.<\/p>\n
"We are still investigating how passengers carrying fake
\ntickets could smoothly pass by the check-in counter and board the
\nplane without any difficulty," Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
The suspect, identified only as TR, 31, was nabbed by the
\nairline's security officers at a Merpati district office on
\nTuesday for allegedly using and selling counterfeit tickets, said
\nMerpati spokesman Tondo Widodo in a release.<\/p>\n
TR, identified by Merpati as a travel agency director in
\nLombok, West Nusa Tenggara, confessed he ran the illegal business
\nalone, said Tondo.<\/p>\n
"Based on our investigation, there's no evidence that any of
\nour staff played a role in the case," Tondo said.<\/p>\n
According to Merpati, the suspect, who is now being held at
\nCity Police Headquarters for further questioning, had operated
\nhis business for 10 months since June last year.<\/p>\n
It is believed TR illegally extended routes of tickets he
\npurchased, Tondo said.<\/p>\n
"He also changed passengers' status, such as from children to
\nadults," he said.<\/p>\n
By doing so, the suspect could collect extra money from the
\nreturn tickets he sold to his customers which were much lower in
\nprice than official prices.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said the suspect confessed he often escorted the
\npassengers who bought the tickets from him, from the check-in
\ncounter to the boarding gate.<\/p>\n
"There's probably one or more insiders involved in the scam.
\nNot in the changing of routes, but in letting passengers with
\nillegal tickets board the planes," Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
Tondo revealed that TR's favorite routes were from Jakarta to
\nMedan, Denpasar, Ujungpandang, Pontianak and Jayapura.<\/p>\n
A one-way ticket costs between Rp 300,000 and Rp 600,000 each,
\naccording to the official Merpati rate list.<\/p>\n
It was unclear how much TR offered the counterfeit tickets
\nfor.<\/p>\n
According to Aritonang, a Merpati ticketing official who was
\nquestioned earlier last week said routes attached to the tickets
\nseized from TR were different from when they were purchased at
\nthe Merpati office.<\/p>\n
The airline's management learned of the case after finding
\nthat the number of passengers boarding Merpati planes in Jakarta
\ndid not match the number of tickets sold, Aritonang said.
\n(04\/cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-study-insider-roles-in-ticket-scam-1447893297",
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