Duck billionaire named suspect

CIREBON, West Java: Ade Suhidin, the owner of a duck husbandry firm PT Adess Sumber Hidup Dinamika, was named a suspect on Tuesday for alleged embezzlement and is wanted by the Cirebon police.

Adj. Comr. Taufik Asrori, the chief of police detectives said that Ade, who earlier this year was a gubernatorial candidate for West Java, was named a suspect after he was charged with embezzling Rp 2 billion belonging to 120 investors.

The case began in February this year, when Ade started to promote his firm to prospective investors. He offered the investors good investment returns if they were willing to invest in his company.

He provided evidence to the investors that he had several thousands ducks housed in several animal husbandry farms in three separate subdistricts in Cirebon.

Attracted by his presentation, dozens of investors were willing to invest in the company in February, ranging from millions to tens of millions of rupiah.

The investors began to ask for dividends after the company was operational for several months, but Ade never met the request. He was then reported to the police by the investors in November, when the police immediately issued a summons letter to question him.

He never turned up and has gone missing since then. The police who investigated the duck farms found that the sites were empty or that most of the ducks had died, apparently from neglect. -- JP