New trend in car theft discovered

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chief of the Jakarta Police Mobile Detective Unit, Comr. Tomsy Tohir, warned the public on Monday to be careful when purchasing used cars in the wake of the arrest of four people on suspicions of fraud involving fake vehicle ownership certificates and vehicle registration certificates.

"If people want to buy used cars, it would be advisable to check the papers first with the vehicle document service office. Don't pay for the car before checking," said Tomsy.

He also warned the public not to carry out vehicle purchase transactions on weekends or holidays because car thieves knew buyers could not check the validity of documents as the office would be closed.

Police said they had arrested four suspects identified only by their initials as IYN, YS, BS, and AS last week. The first three were arrested on Jl. Pegangsaan in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, and in Tangerang, on their way to an automotive showroom in Kalimalang, East Jakarta, while the fourth was arrested at the showroom.

They were going to the Kalimalang showroom to sell cars they had gotten as trade-ins for stolen vehicles they had sold with falsified documents. By selling the trade-ins immediately without transferring the ownership, they could cover their tracks and make it difficult to trace their whereabouts.

The four suspects have been charged with falsifying legal documents. "The investigation is still going on. We are still trying to locate another suspect," said Tomsy.

Police have evidence of the suspects' involvement in six transactions involving stolen vehicles. During interrogation, however, the suspects confessed to having sold 26 stolen vehicles since 2003.

Police have seized two vehicles with falsified ownership certificates, a Suzuki Escudo and a Suzuki Carry, both 2000 models, and the two legally registered vehicles the suspects had taken as trade-ins, a Toyota Krista and a Honda Genio. The police also confiscated two motorcycles made in China, whose vehicle ownership certificates had been altered and used to create fake certificates for the stolen vehicles.

Laude, an investigating officer, said that the suspects had changed all the data on the motorcycle ownership certificates, except for the license plate number and the name of the owner.

The registration forms for motorcycle and car ownership certificates are identical, so this kind of fraud is difficult for the public to detect unless they check with the vehicle document service office before purchasing a used vehicle.

The suspects were arrested after the previous owners of the Toyota Krista and Honda Genio checked the certificates for the Suzuki Escudo and the Suzuki Carry with the document service office and discovered that they had been falsified. The car buyers then called the police. (001)