American wanted in Philippines arrested in Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Officers from Interpol's National Central Bureau and detectives from the National Police have arrested a 54-year- old American following a request from Interpol in Manila, the Philippines.
According to a police officer, who asked for anonymity, Dennis Austin Standefer, 54, was apprehended on Saturday for having violated Indonesia's immigration law.
"We arrested him based on the fact that he had overstayed his immigration permit by at least 10 months," the source told The Jakarta Post.
Brig. Gen. Wayan Ardjana, secretary of Interpol's National Central Bureau of Indonesia, confirmed the arrest.
He however did not give details, saying that the investigation on Standefer was still underway.
Separately, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar said that Standefer was apprehended for using a fake passport and not possessing adequate travel documents.
"He's currently detained at the Interpol office," he said.
Standefer could face maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of Rp 25 million (US$3,380) for breaching the immigration law, Sianipar said.
According to the police source, Standefer is listed as one of the most wanted criminals in the Philippines for his alleged role in a series of crimes in the country.
"He's at least charged for, among other things, raping a girl and exploding part of a mountain there," he said.
Contacted from his office in Manila on Tuesday, officer Mario A. Garcia of the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) hailed the successful work of the Indonesian police officers in allocating and apprehending the suspect.
Garcia said that he would soon meet his superiors to discuss the possible extradition of Standefer to the Philippines.
Defraud
According to him, the American is suspected to have defrauded a number of people who invested their money in Standefer's business of hunting artifacts.
"The NBI has also charged him for allegedly raping a 16-year- old girl in Mindanao in 1994," Garcia told the Post.
During his stay in the Philippines, Standefer was once jailed for several weeks for immigration violation but was freed later after claiming he was suffering an illness, Garcia added.
Standefer, he said, was also believed to be the man behind the 1995 illegal explosion of Mount Parker, also in Mindanao, which killed nearly 100 people, in one of his efforts to trace local treasures.
"We were then after him so we could possibly charge him with homicide," Garcia said, adding that he believed Standefer illegally fled the country.
Following the arrest of Standefer, an American man -- who said he was a victim of Standefer's treasure hunting business -- contacted the Post to relay his experience dealing with the suspect.
Karl Steven Ryll, a teacher at Valle Lindo High School at El Monte, California, said he raised about US$90,000 from his friends to invest in Standefer's business while he invested $6,000.
However when things went bad last year, he spent thousands of dollars in an effort to trace Standefer.
Reward
He promised a $2,500 reward to anyone in the U.S. who could arrest him.
Ryll then hired a private investigator before later contacting the American Federal Bureau of Investigation. But still Standefer couldn't be found.
Ryall said he was delighted when a police officer informed him of Standefer's arrest.
"I clapped. I felt at peace for the first time since the trouble started," Ryll said.
He said he had been told that the suspect was arrested at around 1 p.m on Saturday at Suropati Park in Central Jakarta when Standefer was on his way home from the antique market on Jl. Surabaya.
The story, Ryll said, started in 1990 when he first met Standefer at a social club in South Pasadena, California, in which the suspect presented club members with the tale of discovery of a paddle-boat that had sunk off the coast of North Carolina in 1857 with an estimated 18,900 kilograms of California gold aboard.
Standefer later told Ryll that he was partially responsible for the discovery of the sunken boat.
"I was impressed by him during his presentation," said Ryll.
Two years later, Standefer invited Ryll to his home to discuss the discovery of a valuable Japanese World War II shipwreck off the coast of Camiguin island in the Northern Philippines.
In the beginning, Ryll even traveled to the Philippines and helped Standefer in the exploration of the Japanese shipwreck.
"But, later I realized I had found nothing but a good scuba diving site," said Ryll.
Ryll learned that Standefer was in Indonesia during his stay in the Philippines last June. He then flew to Indonesia after some of his friends informed him of Standefer address.
Standefer's lawyer, Tisnaya I.Kartakusuma was not available for comment on Tuesday. (bsr/ind/asa)