Suspected kidnappers detained<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City police have detained a number of suspects
\nin connection with last month's kidnapping and beating of
\nbusinessman Sulaiman Ramli, better known as Han Seng, which was
\napparently intended to extract repayment of a debt which a
\nprivate bank claims the businessman owes to it.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters here yesterday, Crime Investigation
\nDirectorate Secretary Lt. Col. Primanto declined to give details
\nof the suspects, saying that police were still looking for
\nadditional clues.<\/p>\n
\"Today I can only reveal that there are more than one
\nsuspect,\" said Primanto, a former West Jakarta police chief.<\/p>\n
He neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, circulating widely,
\nthat police and military personnel were deeply involved in the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
Late last month, businessman Han Seng, through his lawyer
\nBambang Hartono, reported to City Police headquarters that he had
\nbeen kidnapped and beaten by a group of about 20 people,
\nincluding a police officer whom he identified as Lt. Col. Alfon,
\nan officer of the Economic Crime Investigation Directorate at the
\nNational Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
Han Seng alleged that the group came to his house at 11 p.m.
\non May 12. They proceeded to hit and kick him, and then dragged
\nhim to a van where officer Alfon was waiting, he said.<\/p>\n
According to Han Seng, the men continued to abuse him in the
\nparking lot of Satria Mandala military museum on Jl. Gatot
\nSubroto, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Han Seng said that the men had warned him not to report the
\nincident to the police. \"They said if I reported the incident to
\nthe police they would kill my relatives one by one,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Although Han Seng sustained several injuries in the incident,
\nhe was fit enough to be questioned by police investigators a few
\ndays ago, Lt. Col. Primanto said yesterday.<\/p>\n
According to Han Seng, the incident had something was related
\nto a 1990 Rp 3.6 billion (US$1.6 million) loan from the Panin
\nBank.<\/p>\n
He said that the money had actually been borrowed by an
\nacquaintance of his who worked at the bank, Lay Mei Lin. He said
\nthat his name, rather than Lay Mei Lin's, had been used in the
\nloan transaction because the bank's regulations did not permit an
\nemployee to apply for a loan.<\/p>\n
He said that under an agreement between the two, Han Seng
\nobtained the Rp 3.6 million loan from the bank but later gave the
\nmoney to Lay Mei Lin, who then handed it over to her brother,
\nHariyanto Latief, who agreed to repay the money to the bank.<\/p>\n
Three years later, Han Seng said, the bank asked him to repay
\nthe loan. Han Seng then told Latief, who had used the money to
\nimport luxury cars, to repay the money to the bank. But Latief
\ndeclared himself bankrupt.<\/p>\n
On the basis of the loan agreement, the bank kept asking Han
\nSeng to repay the loan and, finally, hired debt collectors to
\nexert pressure on him.<\/p>\n
Officer Alfon is believed to be under intensive questioning at
\nNational Police headquarters.<\/p>\n
City police detectives have questioned a number of people,
\nincluding executives of the Panin Bank, in connection with the
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Amir Syamsuddin, lawyer of one of the executives, said
\nrecently that Panin Bank knew nothing about documents other than
\nthe loan agreement between the Panin Bank, the creditor, and Han
\nSeng, the debtor.<\/p>\n
The lawyer also denied that Mei Lin was an officer of the
\nbank. \"Mei Lin was not a Panin Bank officer nor a bank customer,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Further, Amir denied that the bank had been involved in the
\nkidnapping and beating of Han Seng, although he conceded that
\nPanin Bank did routinely hire people to encourage debtors to
\nrepay their loans.<\/p>\n
\"But, if those people coerce and beat the debtors it is not
\nour responsibility, because our agreement with them does not ask
\nthem to do that,\" he said. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/suspected-kidnappers-detained-1447893297",
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