Credit card criminal nabbed

DENPASAR, Bali: Local police have captured a long-time suspect who is allegedly responsible for masterminding credit card fraud in the country after seven years' hunt, Antara reported on Saturday.

The suspect, Budiarto Wibowo, 38, was caught red-handed as he was engaged in a transaction using an American Express (Amex) credit card to buy a mobile phone at a branch of the giant bookstore chain Gramedia on Thursday.

Amex management reported to the local police after finding out that the name on the credit card was different from that on his identity card.

"As he was trying to make a cash payment and leave the shop for his car, police arrested him without resistance," Denpasar Police chief Adj. Comr. Husein Abubakar said on Saturday.

In a search conducted at his home, police confiscated around 170 forged credit cards from various local and foreign banks, two imprinting machines, a skimming device, 69 invoices and four lists of bank identity numbers.

Budiarto is believed to be one of the ring leaders of white collar crime in Indonesia, as well as being involved in such crime in Asia, Europe and America. He was arrested for the first time in Jakarta in 1994 for the same crime, but later escaped prosecution.