Five Indonesians arrested in Sydney

Five Indonesians arrested in Sydney

JAKARTA (JP): Police here are still establishing whether the
five Indonesians arrested by Australian airport customs officers
last Friday have criminal records.

The Indonesians were arrested in Sydney for allegedly
possessing fake credit cards and international driving licenses.

Secretary of the Indonesian bureau of Interpol, Brig. Gen.
Ahwil Lutan, told reporters here yesterday that the information
on the criminal records would help the Australian police in their
current investigation against them.

"We need a week or two to find out whether they are listed as
criminals in Indonesia," Lutan said.

Lutan identified the five Indonesians as Rudi Hadinoto, 25,
Jerry Tjandra, 25, Anthony Wijaya, 24, Anthony Herawan, 37, and
female suspect, Wiwin Sunanda, 37. Initial reports stating that
only three people were arrested turned out to be incorrect.

The officer said that the locals were arrested soon after
arriving at Sydney international airport on a flight from Jakarta
on Friday morning.

The airport customs officers found at least five counterfeit
credit cards and several blank international driving licenses,
Lutan said.

The agency's correspondent in Australia quoted local papers as
saying that the three suspects were arrested with 31 fake credit
cards and eight blank international driving licenses on their
possession.

Australian immigration officers were tipped off before their
arrival.

They were immediately searched by the officers under the eyes
of local police upon arrival, it said.

According to Lutan, Rudi came to the Australian embassy here
on April 15 to get his visa, saying that he was planning to play
golf in Sydney.

During police interrogations in Australia, Rudi and Jerry said
that they were executives of different companies in Jakarta.

Antara said that the suspects were scheduled in court
yesterday.

In another unrelated development, Lutan said that the
Australian police have informed Jakarta of the arrest of an
Indonesian, identified as Subagio Lagaida Prabowo, a suspect in
the 1994 bank fraud worth Rp 4 billion (US$1.7 million) in
Salatiga, Central Java.

"We're still waiting for the local court's decision whether
extradition of the suspect to Indonesia will go ahead," Lutan
said.

The suspect left his job as director of BPR (People's Credit
Bank) branch in Salatiga in late 1994 after allegedly pilfering
Rp 4 billion in customer deposits.

"He's believed to have lived in the U.S. and Australia," Lutan
said. (bsr)