Bogus seminar organizer charged with swindling

Bogus seminar organizer charged with swindling

JAKARTA (JP): Vocational high school teacher Zawawi Suat is
being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court for allegedly
swindling the participants of a seminar he had organized.

The court ran the second hearing of the case on Thursday,
hearing testimonies from the witnesses: Mulyadi, a staffer at the
state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek and Nur Hidayat
Umatjina, a staffer at an export-import company located in North
Jakarta. Both witnesses participated in the seminar.

At last week's indictment, prosecutor Y. Eddy charged that the
defendant held the seminar with the assistance of M. Toha,
Kalsum, Firdaus, Sukarto, Muchsin, Taufik and Astuti.

The seminar, billed as a "One-day National Dialog on Customs",
was held at the Palikrama Hall in the Central Jakarta Pawnshop on
Oct. 29 last year.

The indictment stated that the defendant, who was chairman of
the seminar's organizing committee, issued 600 invitations to
members of the public for Rp 500,000 (US$71) each.

It said participants could obtain tickets through agencies, by
bank transfer or on the day the seminar was held.

The organizing committee printed two different kinds of
invitations.

The first invited people to attend a seminar which would
feature the director general of customs at the finance ministry,
Hermana Agung, as its keynote speaker.

Others speakers on the list were customs experts Soetjipto,
Daryono, Arief, Ali Purwito; director of Jakarta airports
management company PT Angkasa Pura II Miskul Firdaus; and the
director of Jakarta seaports operator PT Pelindo II, Herman
Prayitno.

The second invitation said that former minister of trade and
industry Rahardi Ramelan would be the keynote speaker. Other
listed speakers were Djoko Mulyono, the director general of
foreign trade at the finance ministry, and Daryono, Miskul
Firdaus, Ali Purwito and Arief.

Enthusiast

In the hearing, presided over by Judge Poerwanto, Nur Hidayat
Umatjina said he went to the seminar as a representative of his
company in order to learn more about customs and export-import
affairs.

"We enthusiastically attended the seminar as the listed
speakers were qualified people," he told the hearing. He said his
company had sent two employees to the seminar. However, none of
the listed speakers appeared at the seminar.

The indictment stated they were substituted by other, less
well-known speakers.

The indictment hinted that the committee had contacted the
speakers, but they had replied they could not address the
seminar. However, it continued, the committee insisted on selling
the tickets without informing the public and the participants
about the speakers' absence.

It said the committee had succeeded in selling 400 tickets,
earning a total revenue of Rp 200 million.

The indictment also stated that the seminar, which had yet to
obtain a permit from the police, did not provide the participants
with seminar kits.

"Many participants could not even get seats," it said, adding
that the committee only provided 300.

The 41-year-old defendant said he had informed the
participants over the absence of the speakers just before the
seminar started.

"They apparently accepted my explanation. But after the first
session, some participants who were late to the hall protested to
the committee because they could not get seats," he said after
the hearing.

He said it sparked anger from other participants, who then
reported him to the police.

"Other committee members disappeared just after the quarreling
occurred at the seminar," he added.

The prosecutor said the defendant had violated article 378 of
the Criminal Code on swindling, which carries a maximum sentence
of four years in jail.

Judge Poerwanto adjourned the hearing until next week to hear
testimonies from other witnesses. (asa)