Agribusiness scam hits Lampung, Rp 300b lost
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung, Lampung
A huge scam similar to that involving private agribusiness company PT Qurnia Subur Alam Raya (QSAR) in the West Java town of Sukabumi has hit Lampung province.
More than 100 people in Lampung have complained of losing a total of about Rp 300 billion which they had invested in private agribusiness company PT Citrafarm Usaha Mandiri Bersama (CUMB).
Yet, investors appeared reluctant to take the scandal to the local police and file charges against the company, which had offered a profit-sharing scheme.
Ironically, most of them refused to be publicly identified as investors of PT CUMB, which had occupied an office on Jl. Dr. Susilo No. 58 in the provincial capital of Bandarlampung.
"You need not mention my name. But frankly speaking, the boss of the company has fled with around Rp 300 billion in funds from 110 investors," an investor told The Jakarta Post.
The company appears to have gone bankrupt, as it recently closed its offices.
A staff member at the office said it was no longer rented by PT CUMB, and had not been for several weeks. "I don't know where PT CUMB moved its office," he said.
A number of investors said they decided to invest in the company because it promised them attractive shares in profit.
"I have heard the case is being handled by the Jakarta Police as PT CUMB's headquarters is in Jakarta. That's why we didn't report it to the Lampung police," said Budi, one of the investors.
He admitted he was convinced by PT CUMB management to put money into the company. "I received profit from the company just once," he added.
CUMB director Franklin could not be reached for comments on Thursday. Apparently, he is in Jakarta to resolve the scam and had promised to return the investors' money, reported several of its employees.
In a similar case last year, around 6,800 people lost about Rp 500 billion in a huge scam involving the now defunct PT QSAR.
The agribusiness company's director, Ramli Araby, is being held by the local police, which has charged him with violating Bank Law 10/1998, Article 46, for collecting public funds in bank accounts without a permit. The maximum penalty for this violation is five years in jail.
Ramli could also be charged under Criminal Code articles 378 and 372 on fraud, which carry a four-year sentence.
PT CUMB had planned to develop a chicken farm of laying pullets and chickens for consumption on 22 hectares of land in the village of Suka Damai Babatan in Katibung subdistrict, southern Lampung.
However, the company went bankrupt after it had just started the business on only four hectares of land.
A security guard at the husbandry site said PT CUMB had stopped raising pullets and chickens several months ago.
"What still remains is a plantation of 8,000 gold teakwood trees surrounding the husbandry site," he added.
Yulianingsih, a PT CUMB manager, said the company headquarters in Jakarta had offered the cultivation of agricultural products such as potatoes, chilies, tomatoes and apples on 67 hectares of land in Sukabumi.
CUMB director Franklin had reportedly put in about Rp 4 billion in start-up capital to prepare the infrastructure of the business, including the purchase of land and the office space rental.
The investors provided between Rp 4 million and hundreds of millions of rupiah each to join the obscure business with CUMB, which had placed newspaper advertisements as a fund-raising campaign targeting locals.
Based on the company's profit-sharing scheme, investors who contributed between Rp 5 million and Rp 6 million would receive up to 54 percent of the amounts annually.
Head of the Lampung trade and industry office Gustimigo said his office did issue a business license for PT CUMB, but refused to take responsibility for the debacle.
"It is in the authority of the police," he said.