Bogus marine major arrested in Pulo Gebang
Bogus marine major arrested in Pulo Gebang
JAKARTA (JP): The Marine Corps has arrested a debt collector
claiming to be a marine major following a report from a resident
who fell victim to his trickery, an officer in the corps'
information unit said on Tuesday.
Maj. Ibrahim Sadong told reporters that the suspect was
identified as 36-year-old Anwar Daud, who comes from Bima in West
Nusa Tenggara.
Anwar, a honey trader who also worked as a freelance debt
collector, was arrested in his rented house in Pulo Gebang, East
Jakarta, on Friday, Ibrahim said.
Anwar allegedly claimed that he was a marine major who chaired
the Marine Corps' Family Cooperative.
"He deliberately printed name cards using the Marine Corps
logo and distributed them to people to convince them," Ibrahim
said.
A box of name cards, a Marine Corps T-shirt and an air pistol
were confiscated from Anwar's house, which he claimed, in front
of his victims, functioned as his office as well.
"We had no trouble tracing him as he left name cards bearing
his telephone number with the victims," Ibrahim said.
A Pejaten resident named Temmy reported to the Marine Corps'
Jakarta headquarters that his wife had been intimidated by a
marine major coming to their house after she was unable to pay
debts of Rp 100 million (US$13,333).
Temmy's wife owed the money to someone called Rohim, who sent
the "marine major" to collect the debt.
Speaking to reporters, Anwar said that Rohim offered him 40
percent of any debts he collected.
"Who would not be tempted by such an offer in these difficult
times. I can't depend solely on honey trading right now as I have
to feed my four children and send them to school," he said.
However, Ibrahim said he would not immediately believe what
Anwar disclosed because the latter seemed to be "too smart"to be
just a honey trader and phony major.
"We'll pursue the case because three months ago we apprehended
a group of people who misused the Marine Corps name to extort
money from Chinese-Indonesian businesspeople," he said.
"Anwar Daud is still in our custody as we need him for our
investigation, but he will soon be transferred to the city police
for further questioning," Ibrahim said. (emf)