Indonesians jailed for fraud in France
Indonesians jailed for fraud in France
JAKARTA (JP): National Police Headquarters denied yesterday reports that a number of Indonesian citizens arrested in Paris for using faked credit cards were being deported.
"All of them were tried about two months ago and are now in prison in France," a senior police officer told The Jakarta Post here yesterday.
The Indonesian police have no plan to extradite the offenders, nor have they talked with the French government about deporting the Indonesian criminals from Paris to Jakarta. The local police also have no plan to arrest for further investigation, the police general, who refused to be named, said.
"We have nothing to do with the case because the scene of the crime was Paris," he said.
Indonesian police detectives are only studying how the offenders got their illegal cards in Indonesia.
"There has been no significant progress in that thus far," the source said.
Local media reported yesterday that the French police were to deport seven Indonesians, who were arrested for using fake credit cards in Paris.
The press reports quoted Lt. Col. I Made Mangku Pastika, a former head of the economic crime unit at National Police Headquarters, as saying that the Indonesian police had found strong indications of passport forgery committed by the group.
Made is currently chief of the West Jakarta police precinct.
Police have noticed an increase in the number of Indonesians, mostly of Chinese origin, using phony credit cards overseas, particularly in Hong Kong and tourist resorts.
Police have identified a number of syndicates, involving many Indonesians. They have also determined the methods they use in counterfeiting credit cards to steal billions of rupiah.
According to Made, the amount of losses suffered by credit card issuers in Indonesia totaled Rp 25.5 billion (US$11.5 million) in 1993 and Rp 5 billion last year.
The police are urging credit card holders in this country to immediately report any unusual purchases appearing on their bills. (bsr)