'Arisan' participants worried
'Arisan' participants worried
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of participants in the controversial Danasonic arisan chain savings enterprise have expressed concern about the future of the scheme following media reports that police were continuing investigations into the coordinating company, PT Saptamitra Ekakarya.
National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro has instructed all regional police chiefs throughout the country to immediately carry out an in-depth investigation into any similar activities occurring in their respective areas.
Participants in the scheme have been telephoning police investigators as well as executives of PT Saptamitra Ekakarya, the company which runs the chain savings system.
"We receive many calls everyday from the participants, including some from Sumatra, asking about the results of our ongoing investigation," City Police spokesman, Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko, said yesterday.
But police could do nothing for the time being, as the investigation had yet to be completed, he said.
Yesterday, dozens of Danasonic participants from as far away as East Java and Sumatra gathered in front of PT Saptamitra Ekakarya's head office on Jl. Pasar Minggu Raya, South Jakarta, wishing to know whether or not the company would be closed by the authorities.
None of the participants expressed anger towards the company.
"What we need is to ask the police to properly investigate this case because we feel that this chain savings system has not put people at a disadvantage thus far," said Suswati, who came to the Danasonic head office representing 35 students of the Moslem Gontor Pesantren Koranic school in Ponorogo, East Java.
According to the company's commissioner, Sindi Husain, his company has been receiving hundreds of telephone calls a day from participants for several days, with people asking about the fate of the business.
"I have told them that the business is still being carried on because there has not been any notice from the police or the authorities forbidding (the company's) activities or closing the company," Sindi said.
Like many other similar arisan chain savings systems, the Danasonic scheme has attracted people from various social and educational backgrounds, including people in the banking industry and in universities all over the country.
The scheme requires new participants to pay Rp 10,000 (US$4.50) to the participants whose names are listed at the top of a coupon and at fifth (last) place.
The newcomer confirms the transaction by sending Rp 11,000 to PT Saptamitra Ekakarya as an administrative fee. The company then sends the newcomer four more coupons with his name listed at fifth place.
The name previously listed at first place is removed, with the other four names respectively moving up on the list.
If the newcomer succeeds in selling the four extra coupons, at Rp 10,000 each, he receives Rp 9,000.
Later, if buyers of the person's coupons can sell them to others, it is possible for him to earn up to Rp 10.24 million.
According to the head of the police's Economic Crimes Investigation Division, Lt. Col. Aryanto Sutadi, tentative investigations suggest that the scheme has attracted about 10 million participants nationally.
Company executives put the total number of participants at 500,000.
Based on their preliminary findings, city police have seized money sent by newcomers to the company's post office box and have frozen the accounts held by the company at several Jakarta banks.
Sindi said that the money so seized by police may already have exceeded Rp 1 billion.
"We just want to make sure that the money sent by the people can be easily confiscated in the future if our investigation strongly indicates that the company's executives have cheated the public," Aryanto said.
According to Bambang, the company's executives have mistakenly used a license which is not intended for such a business.
"We want the local trade affairs office to withdraw the licenses issued to the company," he said.
Bambang also alleged that the company's executives had been evading tax.
A number of regional police headquarters, including the West Sumatra police, have also begun investigating Danasonic activities in their areas. (bsr)