Ministry of Immigration and Corrections to Investigate Staff Involvement in "Love Scamming" Case

Bandarlampung, Lampung (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Kemenimipas) will conduct an internal investigation into the involvement of its staff in the love scamming case carried out from within the Kotabumi Detention Centre (Rutan) in North Lampung by the inmates. “There is already suspicion that staff at the correctional institution (lapas) there are involved; this will be investigated internally. It will then be synchronised with the examination by the Provincial Police (Polda) to confirm it,” said Minister of Imipas Agus Andrianto at the Lampung Regional Police Headquarters (Mapolda), on Monday. According to him, inmates or wards should not be allowed to hold mobile phones or any communication devices inside the detention centre. He said the discovery of 156 mobile phones as evidence inside the rutan raises questions. “What I question is also why mobile phones can enter the rutan. Therefore, I conveyed to the Polda Lampung earlier that please uncover this case as widely as possible,” he said. Agus continued that if there is still circulation of mobile phones in the rutan, it does not rule out the possibility of rogue staff at the lapas there being involved. “If there is involvement (of Imipas staff), just process it. We ask that this case be properly uncovered,” he said. He also asked the public to be patient and believe that the case will not be covered up and that those involved will be revealed openly. “Believe me, this case will not be covered up by us. If it were to be covered up, the information from the beginning would not have been given to the Polda Lampung,” he said. It is known that the Lampung Provincial Police together with Kemenimipas uncovered the love scamming case orchestrated from within the Class II B Kotabumi Detention Centre, allegedly carried out by the inmates. In that case, the Lampung Provincial Police have examined 145 inmates at the rutan and 137 convicts are suspected of being involved in the love scamming crime.