40 contractors arrested for counterfeiting documents
40 contractors arrested for counterfeiting documents
JAKARTA (JP): The City Municipality Office announced yesterday
that many contractors are operating with fake identities in the
city.
Harun Al Rasyid, the acting chairman of the city's pra-
qualification committee, said that 40 fake identities have so far
been confiscated through a number of tenders for the construction
of projects owned by city-owned companies or city institutions.
Giving no details about the date of the confiscation, Kahfi
told The Jakarta Post in a statement that fake identities deal
with the provision of a number of services, including contract
work, consultation, goods procurement and other services.
"The cases of the 40 fake documents are currently being
investigated and processed by the Central Jakarta police," Harun
said.
According to Harun, who is also the City Secretary, the 40
fake identities were confiscated by the committee in separate
opportunities through legal channels.
"It seems to us that the syndicate running these fake
documents is well organized," said Harun, a former major of South
Jakarta.
He pointed out that brokers grouped in this syndicate can
properly counterfeit the original form for recommended
contractors along with the serial number, officers' signatures
and the official stamp of the committee.
Harun quoted one of the suspects as saying that the syndicate
has forged at least 1,000 forms.
"All of them have been sold," the suspect admitted.
No broker
Harun, therefore, urged private contractors intending to take
part in the tenders of the city's projects to apply directly to
the committee, whose office is located on the ground floor at
Block E of the City Municipality Office on Jl. Merdeka Selatan 8-
9, Central Jakarta.
"Do not ever apply via any broker or third party who might
only inflict a loss upon the applicant," he said.
His committee, he said, has learned that the tariff for
arranging the completion of the documents through brokers or
middlemen was set from Rp 2 million (US$915) to Rp 10 million per
contractor.
"The tariff is much lower through the committee than if it is
set by the brokers," Harun offered.
Many people have said that the applicants refused to apply
through the committee due to the complicated procedures and
bureaucracy involved, which only wasted their time and money.
Among distinctive differences on the fake documents is the
logo of the state-owned money printing company Perum Peruri,
which issues the paper.
"The emblem appears on the fake paper when viewed through
ultraviolet rays but it cannot be seen on the original one,"
Harun explained. (bsr)