Africans arrested for fraud

JAKARTA (JP): City Police have arrested six African men for allegedly cheating people into handing over their US Dollar banknotes based on the promise that the amount would be doubled after a certain period of time.

"The six men operated in three groups, but they conducted a similar operation. Another suspect is still at large," city police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu said on Thursday.

Harry said that the suspects, who were arrested separately on Wednesday, told the victims that they could double their original amount of dollars.

"They mesmerized their victims so that the latter did not realize that the banknotes had already been replaced with black papers by the suspects," he said.

Suspects Bah Ismail and William Prowd were arrested at a hotel in the Melawai area of South Jakarta; Fonbas K. and Nyampa Richard Alain were caught on Jl. Percetakan Negara in Central Jakarta; and Ous Mane Djibra Techhnya and Raymond Christian, alias Christ, were nabbed at a hotel on Jl. Tanjung Duren in West Jakarta.

Police managed to seize a suitcase full of black papers, chemicals and two plastic bottles which had contained chemicals from the suspects, Harry said.

The victims, identified as Lieske and Sukisman, admitted to having lost thousands of dollars, he said. (jun)