Locksmith Testifies Police Asked Him to Crack Safe in Sentul House Raid

A joint team of investigators from Polda Metro Jaya and the National Police’s Corruption Eradication Task Force (Kortastipidkor) searched at least 12 locations from Cipete in South Jakarta to Sentul in Bogor Regency on Wednesday. The searches are part of an investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering related to coal, Asabri, and PT Krakatau Steel. During the searches of a cafe in Cipete and a house in Sentul, police discovered a large, hidden safe. For the safe found in Sentul, police called in a locksmith from Bogor to crack it open. The locksmith, Roy, stated that upon opening the massive, concealed safe, they found 74 kg of gold. He described the safe as having a sophisticated security system with two layers of steel. ‘The security system is good. The lock uses a rotary combination and a manual key. So it has two locks, a sophisticated safe, expensive. The steel has two layers, so it’s not just a regular iron box safe,’ Roy said in Sentul, Bogor, on Thursday. Roy said he was initially contacted by the Bogor Police to assist in opening the safe. He estimated the price of such a sophisticated safe to be around Rp20 million or more. After breaking the manual lock, the process continued using a cutting machine or grinder. The entire operation to open the safe took approximately 15 minutes. Roy mentioned that the safe was located on the second floor of the house, camouflaged behind a wardrobe. He described the safe as a reinforced room built into the wall, measuring about 1.5 metres by 80 centimetres, rather than a typical metal box. From outside the room, he could see suitcases inside. Police previously revealed that the contents of the safe included an estimated 74 kilograms of gold bullion, along with rupiah, US dollar, and Singapore dollar currency, with a total estimated value of hundreds of billions of rupiah. Chief of the National Police’s Corruption Task Force, Inspector General Totok Suharyanto, detailed that the locked safe contained seven suitcases holding 74 kg of gold bars, US$4,767,300, S$14,083,800, and Rp100 million, with a total estimated value of Rp476 billion. Polda Metro Jaya’s Head of Public Relations, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, emphasised that the investigation into alleged corruption at PLN, Asabri, and Krakatau Steel has the direct attention of President Prabowo Subianto. He stated that the series of searches is part of the investigative process to gather evidence related to bribery, gratification, and money laundering.