Cameroonian given 2 years in jail

BOGOR: A Cameroon national was sentenced to two years in jail by the Cibinong District Court on Thursday after being found guilty of involvement in producing counterfeit U.S. dollar notes. The verdict was more lenient than the prosecutor's demand of five years imprisonment.

The accused, Sietcheping Gerard, 41, was caught in the act of receiving counterfeit notes at Depok railway station on Feb. 12.

Gerard was charged with knowingly trading in counterfeit bank notes that were produced by an Indonesian identified as Edi Supriyono alias Iben.

Police said that Gerard first asked Edi last October to make 50 counterfeited notes worth US$100 each.

Edi, along with his alleged accomplices Samsul, Risnul Hakim, Zaenal Arief and Haris, printed counterfeit notes at a printing company in Bogor.

Edi and his accomplices were also sentenced to two years in jail in separate trials at the court. The verdict was also more lenient than the prosecutors' demand of four years. -- JP