Barbie pieces worth Rp 5.2b reported stolen
Barbie pieces worth Rp 5.2b reported stolen
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police detectives are investigating the
theft of Barbie doll parts from PT Mattel Indonesia's factory in
Cikarang, Bekasi.
According to a police source, it is suspected some Rp 5.25
billion (US$664,600) worth of the doll parts have been stolen
from the factory since 1992.
"The police have just begun the investigation ... we suspect
the stolen parts are sold to street vendors and peddlers, who
then assemble them and sell the dolls at a greatly discounted
price," the officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said on Wednesday.
"The alleged crime might have involved different groups of
people inside and outside the factory, which employs some 7,000
workers. So we have lots of work to do," the officer said.
A complaint was filed at Jakarta Police Headquarters on Monday
by the security chief of PT Mattel Indonesia, Arty Rochwiyanto.
Contacted on Wednesday, Arty said the company recently became
aware of the thefts after learning that a number of its dolls
were being sold on the streets of the capital by vendors.
He said the dolls being sold on the street were assembled from
parts meant for different doll models.
"A Ken doll, for example, has a different skin color for the
torso, legs, arms and head. An (original) doll produced at our
plant would have the correct skin color for each body part," he
said.
On the streets of the capital, company employees have seen one
of Mattel's doll models with white skin for the torso, instead of
the official darker skin color, he added.
He said the factory price of an authentic Ken doll was
approximately $7, or about Rp 54,500, while the street vendors
were selling their fake Ken dolls for Rp 35,000 each.
"The doll (parts) are usually stored in our factory's
warehouse, but we are still not sure where and when the thefts
actually took place. I'm still waiting for the police to find out
something for us."
The California-based Mattel Inc., one of the world's largest
toy manufacturers, started producing and exporting Barbie dolls
from its Cikarang plant, some 40 kilometers east of here, in late
1992. (ylt)