Man jailed for cheating housewife

JAKARTA (JP): West Jakarta District Court sentenced yesterday an unemployed man to 11 months in jail for swindling a housewife of Rp 100,000 (US$29).

Presiding judge Sunarto said that Roby Guntur, 20, was guilty of cheating Purwanti, of Jl. Mangga Besar in West Jakarta, by using a forged letter to convince her that he had authority from the police to handle matters related to her recent robbery.

"The defendant cheated Purwanti even though she had just been robbed," Sunarto said.

Purwanti went in early August to a nearby security guard to report being hypnotized and robbed of her gold necklace and bracelet by an unidentified man, the judge said.

The following day, Roby visited Purwanti to tell her that the robber had been arrested and that her belongings had been confiscated by police, he said.

Roby told Purwanti to give him money to get her lost belongings from police custody.

Purwanti gave him Rp 100,000, Sunarto said.

When Roby failed to return several hours later Purwanti went to the nearby police subprecinct, only to discover that the robber had not been caught.

Purwanti told police what had happened, and they later caught the defendant.

Roby admitted yesterday that he had found out about Purwanti from the security guard's records. (jun)