Fauzi Bowo summoned over taxi forgery case

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City police said on Thursday they would question on Monday Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo as a witness in an alleged signature forgery case involving taxi company PT Primer Metro Transindo.

The head of the Jakarta Police's auto theft unit, Comr. Edi Tambunan, said police wanted to confirm with Fauzi whether his signature was forged by the taxi company in order to obtain a license for its fleet.

"We will ask him whether the signature is his or not. Our laboratory will also compare his signature with the signature on the license application. Then we can conclude whether we have a case. After that we can determine who falsified the signature," he said.

The case revolves around the alleged forging of Fauzi's signature on documents needed by PT Primer Metro Transindo to secure an operation permit.

The documents were dated Oct. 8, 2003, and were submitted along with other documents to the City Transportation Agency and the City Investment Coordinating Board.

Questions were raised about the document because the city administration announced in 2001 it would not approve any new taxi companies in order to ease the competition among the 23,000 cabs from over 30 companies already operating in Jakarta, not including cabs from towns on the outskirts of the capital.

Earlier, City Legal Agency head Deded Sukandar said his office had checked the authenticity of Fauzi's signature with relevant agencies and confirmed that it was forged.

PT Primer Metro Transindo, which owns 300 Primer taxi cabs, has denied the signature was forged.

Edi said police had questioned eight witnesses over the case, including several officials at the city administration and employees of PT Primer Metro Transindo.

"I think we have enough witnesses and evidence for the case. We will soon name suspects and hand over the case file to the prosecutor's office," he said.