Hundreds of job seekers cheated

JAKARTA (JP): Two hundred and eighty-eight people went to the Ministry of Transmigration on Thursday to start work only to find that their letters of appointment had been forged, Antara reported.

Many of the job seekers had come from as far as West Sumatra or East Java. Some said they had paid between Rp 4 million (US$1,600) and Rp 10 million to middlemen who had promised them jobs at the ministry.

The ministry's secretary-general, Ignatius Hardoyo, broke the bad news to them: that the ministry had not sent any letters of appointment on 1997/1998 job openings.

He showed them the real signature of the ministry's personnel bureau chief, Junaidi, which differed from those on the letters carried by the job seekers.

"I've spent more than Rp 10 million. This is really heart breaking," said Purwito, a university graduate from Lampung.

Of the job seekers, 118 had traveled from East Java, 110 from Lampung, 47 from West Java, six from Central Java, three from Riau, two from Yogyakarta, one from West Sumatra and one from Jakarta.

They had high school or university qualifications.

Some said they had applied in writing for the jobs. One woman said she had even been tested for a position at the ministry.

When they realized they had been cheated, they said they wanted to recover the millions of rupiah that the fraud had cost them.

The Pancoran Police precinct chief, Capt. Rico, was at the ministry to question job seekers on the fraud.

Rico told reporters that police in East Java had arrested a man believed to have masterminded the scam.

Twelve others, including three women, were also being questioned over the case, he said. (03)