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.