Housewife arrested with counterfeit rupiah notes

JAKARTA (JP): Police have questioned a 38-year-old housewife in connection with the distribution of counterfeit money, Rp 400 million of which they confiscated from her house in South Jakarta.

National Police detective's chief of economic crimes Col. I Made Mangku Pastika confirmed the questioning on Sunday but declined to give details.

He only said that the housewife, who was arrested on Wednesday, was possibly a member of a syndicate specializing in counterfeiting money.

"Yes, we have (processed) the case but we cannot disclose anything to the public at the moment," he told The Jakarta Post.

Made explained that cases related to counterfeit money and its distribution were not supposed to be revealed to the public for fear of causing anxiety.

However, a local daily ran a story on the arrest of the housewife on Saturday and identified her as Lasiyem, a resident of Tebet in South Jakarta.

She reportedly underwent a series of intensive questioning at the National Police Headquarters until late Friday.

Fake money in the form of 8,000 pieces of Rp 50,000 notes and a bag of Rp 500 notes were seized by police as evidence, the Sinar Pagi daily reported.

Lasiyem reportedly admitted that she had spent nearby Rp 6.6 billion in counterfeit money at various shopping centers and traditional markets as well as on taxi fares in the capital over the last few years.

During Wednesday's arrest, the police also apprehended Lasiyem's husband Ponimin, 40, and their two sons. The three were released several hours later after police were convinced that they were not involved.

"Lasiyem also told the police that it was herself who knew where the money came from and which shops to shop at," a police source said as quoted by the daily.

According to Lasiyem's preliminary information, the money was supplied by a man identified only as Sonny, a resident of the West Java capital of Bandung.

Sonny, according to Lasiyem, always sent the money to her via a courier, who was arrested in Bogor on his way to Jakarta last week.

Police built the case after the courier tipped off police about counterfeit money destined for Lasiyem.

Police later placed Lasiyem and her family under surveillance, but ended up arresting her when traders from nearby traditional markets realized Lasiyem had paid them with fake money and planned to confront her.

In her confession, she said the money was spent on daily needs.

"We decided to 'secure' her before she was mobbed by angry traders as we still needed her information to develop the case," the police source said.

Separately, the Tangerang District Court sentenced on Saturday two other members of a syndicate which produced counterfeit money amounting to over Rp 5 billion.

Jie Jushandi alias Anon, 55, was sentenced to three years in jail after being found guilty of bankrolling the counterfeiting, while Suranjana, 25, was sentenced to two years for his involvement as a machine operator.

According to presiding judge Heri, the two defendants violated Article No. 244 and 551 of the Criminal Code on counterfeiting, which carry maximum penalties of 15-year imprisonment.

The two immediately shook hands with the judge upon hearing the verdicts in which their punishment was much lighter than those demanded by the prosecutors.

Prosecutor Syahrudin demanded in the indictment that the court sentence Jushandi to six years in jail and Suranjana to four years in jail for their offenses.

The court sentenced Asiong, alias Cakra, 58, of the same six- member syndicate to three years and four months for forging money in a shop-house in the Citra Raya housing complex in Cikupa between March and April last year. (41/emf)