African arrested for U.S. dollar fraud

African arrested for U.S. dollar fraud

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police said on Thursday that they had detained a
Cameroonean citizen, Bernard Yaka A Yakan, 35, alias Tom, and his
Indonesian wife, Ira Herawati, 36, on Sept. 23 for allegedly
fraudulently obtaining US$50,000 from a businessman identified as
Andy Wijaya.

Police detective, Adj. Sr. Comr. Firli Bahuri, said that the
police suspected that the detainee was part of a syndicate and
were now still hunting Tom's accomplice, identified as John
Clark.

"We have confiscated sufficient evidence, including
counterfeit U.S. dollars and the equipment for making the fake
money, to net both of them," he said.

Tom, Clark and Ira told Andy that they could duplicate his
dollars when they met each other in a hotel in Kemayoran, Central
Jakarta, on Sept. 3.

To hook the victim, Tom put an original $100 bill between two
plain pieces of paper and put it in a bowl filled with a
"chemical solution". About 10 minutes later, he produced two
bills from the bowl.

Hooked by the con, Andy handed over a total of $50,000 in $100
bills to the conmen on Sept. 3.

Andy waited for 24 hours for his "free money", but in the end
Tom informed him that the chemical solution hadn't worked and had
to be "remedied".

Tom purported to hand over $1.5 million in a security box as a
guarantee while the three kept Andy's money.

"Andy found out later that all the money Tom had given him was
fake. He went back to the hotel but the suspects had already
gone," said Firli.

After several weeks of investigation, police finally traced
Tom and Ira to the Apron Apartments in Kemayoran.

Firli said that many other people had probably been deceived
by the three suspects as they confessed to having perpetrated the
same con for some time.

He said that both suspects would be charged with fraud and
currency crimes, with the maximum punishment on the charges being
six years.

Two weeks ago, police caught two people holding Congolese
passports for falsifying various documents, including visas,
passports and credit cards, in Pulogadung, East Jakarta.

The two foreign citizens, identified as Ncula Viende, 38, and
Bien Vienne, 26, are still being held by the East Jakarta Police.