Alleged counterfeiters arrested

BOGOR: Police arrested six suspects in a counterfeiting ring early on Tuesday, and also seized phony U.S. and Indonesian banknotes which would have been valued at Rp 2.03 billion (about US$240,824) during the arrest.

Cisarua Police chief Adj. Comr. Ahmad S. Ridwan said that the four suspects Muhtar Mubarok, Habib Burohman, Gumelar Wahyu and AA Mami were arrested in Cisarua while two more suspects Maksi and Dadan were nabbed in Sukabumi.

The bills were mostly Rp 100,000 banknotes and a few US$100 banknotes. They also confiscated the equipment used to make the fake notes.

Ridwan said that the arrest was made after police received information from a victim, Ade Uwa, a resident of Cisarua, who was swindled out of a legitimate Rp 700,000 in exchange for Rp 2 million in fake banknotes.

He also said that police would begin a search for other members of the gang who were believed to be holed up somewhere in Jakarta. -- JP