40 swindled in mushroom plantation

BOGOR: A group of 40 people have lodged a complaint with Bogor police against executives of agribusiness company PT Sinarkiwi Mustika Indonesia (SMI) for allegedly swindling investments.

The group, led by Raindy Intan Widjaja, claimed the group lost a total of Rp 2.3 billion -- more than Rp 50 million each, after investing in the company's mushroom plantations.

The company's executives have fled and are still at large.

The alleged fraud began when the individuals read an advertisement boasting that investors would receive a 10 percent profit on any invested money, payable each month, Antara reported.

Most of the people received profits in the first and second month only.

Meetings with the company's executives always ended with promises to share the profits. -JP