Bogus general nabbed for attempted fraud
Bogus general nabbed for attempted fraud
JAKARTA (JP): A man claiming to be Irian Jaya Police chief
Brig. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika was arrested on Thursday for
allegedly attempting to deceive mining company PT Freeport
Indonesia out of Rp 100 million (US$10,416).
The man, identified as Edy Margono, reportedly called a member
of Freeport's board of directors Prihadi Santoso at the company's
head office on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, on Wednesday and
introduced himself as the Irian Jaya Police chief.
The 25-year-old Edy apparently told Prihadi that he needed Rp
100 million and wanted to borrow the money from the company, a
copper and gold producer which is a subsidiary of U.S. firm
Freeport-McMoRan Cooper & Gold Inc.
The caller asked Prihadi to transfer the money to a savings
account at a Bank Niaga branch on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
Prihadi then asked his secretary to remit Rp 100 million to
the account.
However Prihadi later became suspicious and called Pastika's
secretary at the Irian Jaya Police Headquarters to confirm the
request for a loan.
The secretary told Prihadi that the police chief had not asked
to borrow any money.
Prihadi quickly contacted Bank Niaga to stop the remittance
and reported the case to the police.
The following morning, at about 8 a.m., Prihadi got a call
from the Jl. Thamrin Bank Niaga manager informing him that a man
had tried to withdraw the money.
Prihadi asked him to stall the suspect while he contacted the
police.
Police officers arrested Edy, who was still with the bank
teller who was pretending to process the withdrawal.
Police seized a counterfeit identification card (KTP) in the
name of Made Mangku Pastika.
The suspect is still being questioned at city police
headquarters.
During the preliminary questioning, Edy repeatedly denied
attempting to cheat the company. "It was not me sir, it was not
me," the suspect was quoted by an investigator. But the suspect,
who the police strip searched, declined to mention any names.
A source said it may not have been Edy who telephoned Prihadi,
but that he may have been asked to withdraw the money from the
bank. (jun)