Businessman may get 4 years for stealing designer watches

JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor asked Central Jakarta District Court yesterday to sentence a businessman to four years in jail for allegedly masterminding the theft of watches worth Rp 3.9 billion (US$678.60).

Prosecutor Y.W. Mere said defendant Edi Cay Nam Sui -- alias Buci or Andi Wijaya Gunawan -- was behind the plot which netted 51 designer watches.

Mere alleged that Edi organized four accomplices, identified as Ayen, Asun, Amin, Katai and Sun Kwi Nio, to steal the watches from the Sarida International Watch Store in Ratu Plaza, Central Jakarta, on April 5, 1995.

Edi of Jl. Blok A-1 in the Citra Garden housing complex, West Jakarta, gave Rp 20 million to Asun and asked him to "buy" a wristwatch at the shop, the prosecutor said.

Accompanied by Amin and Katai, Asun went to the shop to purchase a Rolex watch worth Rp 18.5 million as Edi had proposed, he said.

In line with the group's plan, Asun only made a down payment of Rp 15 million and promised to get the rest from his room at the Mandarin Hotel, he said.

Two shop attendants from the watch shop went with Asun to the hotel.

Amin and Katai waited in the shop along with two other shop attendants, Rusdiana and Ayen, who were also members of the gang, Mere said.

Ayen managed to grab wristwatches from the display cases while Amin and Katai "pretended" to keep Rusdiana busy, he said.

The stolen watches -- which included Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philips, Chopards, Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, and Baume & Mercier brands -- were priced between Rp 7 million and Rp 900 million each.

The prosecutor said that Edi later met Anyen, Amin and Katai at Citra Hotel in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, where he paid Anyen Rp 180 million for the loot.

Edi sold 26 of the 51 stolen watches to his brother, identified as Muhamad Hendri, and to shops in Pecenongan, Mere said. The remaining 25 were kept by Amin and Katai.

Asun and Ayen have been sentenced by the same court, but the other three gang members -- Amin, Katai and Sun Kwi Nio -- were still at large.

Edi, who has been in custody since he was arrested on June 26, was charged under Article 363 of the Criminal Code which carries a maximum penalty of nine years in jail.

Presiding judge Asmar Ismail adjourned the trial until Friday to hear the defendant's lawyer Gayus Lumbun's plea. (jun)