Bogus auto oil filters seized

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested a man for trading thousands of cheap auto oil filters which he labeled with six well-known brands to raise the price, an official said on Sunday.

Jakarta Police detectives chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said the man, Rudy Setiawady, alias Ahie, had changed the printed brands of Sakura and Omega oil filters to more expensive brands; namely Toyota, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Mazda, Suzuki, and Daihatsu.

The police also confiscated several pieces of equipment, including some 1,750 re-branded filters and thousands of holographic stickers, from Ahie's house in Grogol, West Jakarta. The items are believed to have been used by the suspect to scrap the initial brand labels on the oil filters and stamp them with new brands.

"The suspect has produced 10,000 re-branded oil filters and has sold about 8,250," Alex told reporters.

The officer, however, did not disclose where Ahie distributed the bogus automobile filters to.

Ahie, who mingled with reporters when the police were displaying the evidence, admitted to journalists that he had been running the business for about a year and a half.

Alex said that Ahie bought Sakura and Omega oil filters which were made in Tangerang for Rp 9,000 each and sold them for between Rp 40,000 and Rp 50,000, after labeling them with the well-known brands. (08)