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)