927 female job seekers locked up and cheated

927 female job seekers locked up and cheated

JAKARTA (JP): A man has been arrested for allegedly
incarcerating 927 women he promised employment overseas after
each of them paid him up to Rp 1 million ($125), police said
yesterday.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the suspect,
Jimmy Chandra, 46, was arrested in a raid Wednesday on the home
he used to keep the job seekers locked up in on Jl. Taman AA in
Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict, West Jakarta.

Four of Jimmy's accomplices were also arrested and detained.

The women, recruited from various regions in Java, were
promised jobs in several Middle East and Asian countries, such as
Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, Aritonang said.

They said they had been put up in the 500-square-meter house
for between three and four months without knowing when they would
be sent abroad.

"They were not given training, passports or medical services
as promised. They were charged between Rp 500,000 and Rp 1
million," Aritonang explained.

People wanting to take their relatives from the house were
required to pay Rp 1 million in compensation for the worker's
living costs and legal documents.

The police found about 400 women when they raided the house at
about 3 p.m.

"As soon as the police entered the house, the workers screamed
hysterically in relief and ran for their freedom," he said,
adding that the house was crowded and the women were in poor
health.

The women were locked inside the house and not allowed to go
out for any reason.

They reported their daily meal consisted of rice, salted fish
and cooked cassava leaves.

The "prison" was uncovered following reports from people
inquiring about the whereabouts of their relatives after they
were taken to an employment agency.

Jimmy admitted to the police to having used the name of
another employment company, PT Wardilesar Jaya Corporation (PT
WJC), to cover up his activities.

The owner of PT WJC, Said Salim, is currently under
investigation but "so far the police have not found any
indication that Said collaborated with the suspect," Aritonang
added.

Jimmy had recruited 927 women since starting his illegal
business about six months ago,

Some job seekers were dispatched to Singapore not long after
they were accommodated in the house because they could fulfill
all the requirements on time, he said.

The women came from Cirebon, Bandung, Garut, Sukabumi and
Cianjur in West Java; Salatiga in Central Java; Blitar and
Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra.

Some of those freed yesterday told The Jakarta Post that they
were promised jobs abroad but eventually, after reaching Jakarta,
were offered work as maids or laborers.

Umi Solika, a 17-year-old from Blitar, East Java, said that
she paid Rp 500,000 to Jimmy's agency for a medical test.

"But I've never been given any tests. I don't have any money
left ... I was promised a job in Saudi Arabia and that's why I
came all the way from Blitar," she said.

Yani, 15, said that Jimmy promised her parents to send her to
Saudi Arabia. But after waiting for about three months, Jimmy
said that there were no jobs there.

"He then offered me a job as a maid in Abu Dhabi," the girl
said.

She said the women were treated unfairly; for example only
beautiful ones were sent abroad.

"Everyday they fed us with salty fish and cassava leaves. We
have to stand in line for hours for the meal and there was only
one bathroom for hundreds of us," she added.

"Every night we had to take turns sleeping. The space for
sleeping was so crowded we had to breathe into each others'
faces. The agency's employees stole our laundry many times," Umi
said.

Jimmy told reporters yesterday that he had treated the women
"properly".

"It is normal if they have to wait a while because, as you
know, it is not easy to get the proper documents to go and work
abroad," he said. (edt)