Generals touted for blackmailing

Generals touted for blackmailing

CIREBON, West Java: Unidentified blackmailers have often used names of police generals in Jakarta and West Java to squeeze hundreds of millions of rupiah from local authorities.

The blackmailers' names have often been used when talking on cell phones, including National Police detective chief Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hillep, West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sudirman Ail, and Cirebon district police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswandi.

Siswandi said that a man claiming to be Engkesman Hillep called his office when he was holding a recent press conference, and asked him to transfer Rp 150 million to a bank account.

Suspicious of the caller, Siswandi directly contacted the general's adjutant to check his boss's cell phone number, which turned out to be different.

He then tried to contact the caller, but failed to talk with him.

"I was suspicious because I know exactly how the voice of the general sounded, as we often contact each other for coordination," Siswandi said on Friday.

He said Kusmayanto, a suspected blackmailer, once forced the rector of the Bandung Institute of Technology at his order to transfer Rp 100 million to an account belonging to a man claiming himself as a minister in Jakarta.--JP