Housewife arrested with counterfeit rupiah notes

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)