Five people questioned over fake rupiah wage

TANGERANG (JP): Police detectives are still questioning five people as witnesses following claims by 70 employees of garment factory PT Young Chang Perkasa here that they were paid with counterfeit Rp 50,000 notes, an officer said on Tuesday.

Cikupa Police chief First Lt. Matroso identified the five witnesses as the factory's manager Kiem, secretary Bety, driver Amin, employee Wawan and the head of state Bank BNI Cikupa's branch office, Made.

"We're focusing our questioning on Bety and Amin, who withdrew the Rp 26 million (US$3,880) from the bank which was later used to pay the workers," Matrasa said.

He said police found irregularities in the paper bands used to bundle the money the two said they withdrew from BNI.

"The money was bundled in paper bands bearing the names of BTN and BII, instead of BNI," Matroso said. BTN is Bank Tabungan Negara and BII is Bank International Indonesia.

"Moreover, the BNI Cikupa branch office only gives Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 bank notes to customers," he said.

Matroso also said the counterfeit Rp 50,000 notes had "no holograms and were slightly shorter than authentic notes".

"Therefore, we already handed this case over to the Tangerang Police for further investigation," he said.

News of the case was released to the press last Sunday, about a week after the incident was reported to the police by employees.

"My friends and I were stunned (when we discovered the notes were counterfeit). We then reported the case to the Cikupa Police," Rosi, an employee at the factory, said.

Rosi first realized she had been paid with counterfeit money when on the evening of July 5, the day she received her salary, a cashier at a nearby supermarket told her that her Rp 50,000 note was counterfeit.

She then checked with her colleagues and reported the case to the local police, who seized fake notes totaling Rp 7.2 million from the workers.

A preliminary police investigation revealed that Bety was asked by Kiem to withdraw Rp 26 million from Bank BNI's Cikupa branch office on July 5.

She delivered the money to Kiem at 10:30 a.m., who at 7 p.m. used the money to pay the factory workers their monthly salaries.

The head of Bank BNI's Tangerang chapter office, Rijanta, said it was impossible for the bank to distribute counterfeit notes.

"Our offices have international-standard devices to detect fake notes," he said.

The head of the Tangerang office of the Manpower Ministry, Apon Suryana, asked the company on Tuesday to immediately repay its employees.

"The company owe the workers their salaries. The salaries should be paid soon because they are needed by the workers," Apon said.

A number of factory employees said they had to borrow money to meet their daily needs.

"We hope the company will replace our salaries soon," Sri, one of the employees, said.(41/jun/bsr)