Three developer staff nabbed in housing fraud<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three people have been arrested for their
\nalleged involvement in a conspiracy to cheat 2,000 prospective
\nhouse buyers in Bekasi, a police officer said yesterday.<\/p>\n
They had promoted a housing project and collected the down
\npayments from the people even though they had not bought a single
\nsquare meter of land or secured a permit to implement the
\nproject, said City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang.<\/p>\n
\"The police are still looking for another suspect, identified
\nas Alfianto Wijaya. He is the head of the company which is
\nsupposed to run the project,\" Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
Among the suspects is A. Thayib D, the head of the Jakarta
\nbranch of the Cooperatives Center for Private Employees
\n(Puskopkar). He was arrested Tuesday at his office.<\/p>\n
The other two are Puskopkar's housing division manager, Nenny
\nHisban, and her husband Hariyanto DJ, who were arrested yesterday
\nat their house in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said Hariyanto worked at PT Mutiaranusa
\nMedikapratama, a developer company owned by Alfianto.<\/p>\n
\"According to the police's preliminary investigation, Nenny is
\nalleged to be the mastermind behind the Rp 2 billion (US$615,384)
\nhousing scam,\" Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
Nenny was believed to have encouraged her boss Thayib to
\nchoose the developer company in which her husband worked to run
\nthe project.<\/p>\n
\"Thayib was allegedly involved in the conspiracy by appointing
\nAlfianto's company as the developer of the project, even though
\nhe knew that Alfianto did not have the money to build the
\nhouses,\" Aritonang said.<\/p>\n
\"They also had not obtained either the location or provisional
\nlicenses, which are compulsory for companies planning to build
\nhouses.\"<\/p>\n
The suspects had not bought any land in Bekasi. They had
\npromoted the housing project, called the Bekasi Karya Sejahtera,
\nsince 1994 to members of cooperatives at many state owned and
\nprivately run companies and institutions here.<\/p>\n
\"They promised to members of the 18 employee cooperatives that
\nthe houses would be ready 12 months after they paid the down
\npayment of between Rp 1 million and Rp 3 million,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The collected down payments were not used to finance the
\nproject, but were transferred to the suspects' own bank accounts
\ninstead, he said.<\/p>\n
About 2,000 people, including employees of the Ministry of
\nTransmigration, the National Family Planning Board, and companies
\nwhich produce Aqua mineral water and Coca Cola soft drinks, had
\nordered the houses and made the down payments.<\/p>\n
A source at the employees cooperative at a government body
\ntold The Jakarta Post Tuesday that representatives of the 18
\ncooperatives had tried to negotiate an end to the dispute with
\nPuskopkar but to no avail.<\/p>\n
He said the cooperatives initially thought that Puskopkar
\ndelayed the project because it was having difficulties choosing a
\nsuitable developer for the project.<\/p>\n
\"But it's been two years since some 200 employees in our
\noffice were given promises that the houses would be developed
\nsoon,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that most of the houses to be built in the Setu area
\nwere of the 21-square-meter type.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said the cooperative victims had reported the
\nsuspects to the police in June.<\/p>\n
He said bank notices of the down payments, lists of buyers,
\nand other documents had been confiscated as evidence in the case.<\/p>\n
\"The police are now waiting for the Ministry of Finance to
\nallow them to investigate the suspects' bank accounts,\" Aritonang
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the three arrested suspects had violated Articles 378
\nand 55 of the Criminal Code on fraud and false promises
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
If found guilty, each could face a maximum of four years
\nimprisonment. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/three-developer-staff-nabbed-in-housing-fraud-1447893297",
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