Bank worker indicted for tricking money changer
Bank worker indicted for tricking money changer
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia employee Rachmat Supratman appeared in the West Jakarta District Court on Tuesday on charges of complicity in swindling a currency broker.
Prosecutor P.D. Manurung said during the court hearing that Rachmat cooperated with a number of accomplices to swindle US$100,000 from Lie Benedictus Djoni in a foreign currency transaction in March this year.
"The defendant's actions violated Article 378 of the Criminal Code on business fraud," Manurung said in his indictment in the hearing presided over by judge Vitalien Maryanti.
The article carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
Manurung said the defendant telephoned Lie, the director of PT Mulia Inter Valasindo, on March 8 this year and told him that he had a customer who wished to exchange Rp 896 million.
"The defendant told Lie the buyer's name was Hendra," he said.
The transaction was made the following day at the defendant's house in the Bank Indonesia Housing Complex in Kemanggisan Ilir subdistrict, West Jakarta, according to the indictment.
Manurung said hours before the transaction occurred, Hendra told Rachmat he would be unable to come to his house and would send a friend, identified as Anton, to represent him. Lie sent two of his employees, Haryanto and Chairul Saleh, as his representatives.
"The defendant counted Lie's money in front of the two employees. It totaled $100,000," Manurung said.
Manurung said Rachmat then asked Haryanto and Chairul to come with him to Hendra's boardinghouse in the Puri Indah Housing Complex in Kebon Jeruk subdistrict, West Jakarta, to pick up Hendra's money.
"The three men -- Rachmat, Haryanto and Chairul -- met with Anton, Hendra's representative, and started the transaction.
"Haryanto gave Anton a plastic pack containing $100,000 in U.S. money.
"Anton stood up and walked to a filing cabinet in the house as if he was going to retrieve the (896 million in) rupiah out of the drawer," Manurung said.
Anton then ran out of the house with the $100,000 and locked the front door behind him, preventing the three men inside the house from pursuing him, according to the indictment.
"The defendant was apparently reluctant to chase after Anton and told Haryanto that he would be responsible for the losses," Manurung said.
Settlement
Haryanto immediately telephoned Lie to inform him of the events, and Lie rushed to Rachmat's house, the indictment said.
"The defendant later told Lie that he preferred to settle the case out of court," Manurung read from the indictment
The prosecutor said the defendant asked Lie to accept a 1,500- square meter plot of land in the Kebon Jeruk subdistrict valued at Rp 650 million ($73,860) in compensation for his lost money.
Lie rejected the offer and filed a complaint with the police, read the indictment.
The judge adjourned the hearing until next week, when the court is scheduled to hear testimony from witnesses in the case, including Haryanto and Chairul.
A number of employees from Mulia Inter Valasindo demonstrated in front of the courthouse on Tuesday, accusing Rachmat of cheating their boss.
In a related note, the police said Anton was still at large, while they had failed to establish the identity of Hendra. (asa)