Five people questioned over fake rupiah wage

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)