Commodity exchange firm accused of fraud

JAKARTA (JP): A group of 10 people, who claim they were cheated by a local commodity exchange firm, visited city council on Thursday to lodge a complaint.

Spokesperson Sucipto said he and his friends and a great number of other people, had lost billions of rupiah after being deceived by Central Jakarta firm PT Satria Nugraha Sejati (SNS).

To attract people, the company claimed a connection with the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Japan, allegedly offering the capacity to directly monitor the latest price of certain commodities trading on the futures market, Sucipto said.

The firm required each investor to provide a US$5,000 minimum payment to begin trading, he said.

Sucipto and his friends worked for the company as business consultants or brokers because and were paid to seek investors.

Attracted by the promise of bonuses in transactions, these investors in turn invited their families to participate.

"We were recruited to seek investors and were promised the money would multiply.

"In reality, we continually lost our money, due to, as management put it, a decrease in commodity prices."

Sucipto's colleague, Lani Kusumo, claimed she lost Rp 43 million belonging to her family in the trading.

Executives from SNS could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The complainants asked city councilors to work on their case to prevent more victims, claiming the firm's management had said scores of "active Armed Forces generals" back the operation.

Head of Commission B for economic affairs Djafar Badjeber, who met the delegation, promised to help.

"We will even accompany you to report (the matter) to the police again." (ind)