Police finally grab notorious `untouchable' pimp
JAKARTA (JP): Police announced yesterday that they have arrested Hartono, the country's most notorious pimp of high-class callgirls, who has evaded the law over the past two decades. He was picked up by police at his mansion in the elite Pondok Indah housing complex in South Jakarta.
"At first I thought he (Hartono) would be a physically imposing figure. I was caught by surprise when I found he was very tiny, only around 150 centimeters tall. Only his name seemed big," Capt. M. Hirdjan, acting chief of the vice squad at the city police headquarters, told reporters yesterday.
Hartono Setyiawan, 42, was captured by police agents around 10:30 pm Wednesday.
Hartono was arrested following the arrest of six "occupants" of the high-class brothel on Jl. Prapanca, South Jakarta, Sunday afternoon.
The six consisted of an assistant pimp, a receptionist and a driver of minivan used for the transportation of the callgirls from Jl. Prapanca to the address given by the customers. The three call girls were caught red handed by police while offering their service to their guests at the Jakarta Hilton and Century Park Hotel. The pimp and two others were nabbed up by police at a house on Jl. Prapanca.
Hirdjan said police did not have any difficulty arresting Hartono, despite his reputation of being the man that authorities were unable, or unwilling, to bring to justice.
Hartono was reportedly hiding behind the cupboard in his bedroom when police officers got into the two-story mansion and made no resistance when he was handcuffed.
"We are now questioning him intensively," Lt. Col. Latief Rabar, a spokesman for City Police, explained.
Latief said the suspects reputation of being "untouchable" was incorrect because police had once arrested him in 1986 for running prostitution business in the "Prapanca" house, a popular name given by his clients for his brothel house on Jl. Prapanca.
Hartono was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to eight months of imprisonment in 1986 but the verdict was overruled by the Jakarta high court, which sentenced him to two years of probation.
Hartono used to be a poor omprengan (nighttime minibus) driver before he entered the lucrative sex business in the early 70s. Now he runs posh brothels in several big cities, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Denpasar, and Semarang. His brothels reportedly only cater to upper-middle class people, including high-ranking governmental officials.
The brothels provide call-girls at rates running between Rp 750,000 and Rp 1.5 million (US$348 - 698) for short-term service (three hours) and twice as much for the whole night. In an apparent attempt to lure more clients, payment could be made with credit cards.
Pale feet
Hirdjan said that, after receiving a tip-off from informants around 11.30 a.m. Wednesday, he along with five officers, including two policewomen, headed for Hartono's mansion in Pondok Indah.
When police officers entered Hartono's mansion, a guard, clad in military-like uniform, tried to bar their way, saying his boss was in Semarang. Police officers who had secured warrants from their chiefs ignored the guard's request and continued their search.
Police examined every inch of Hartono's mansion and saw two human feet under the hanging clothes behind the cupboard in the bedroom.
"The feet looked fair, so much so that we initially thought they belonged to a mannequin. When the feet were dragged out into the open, we were surprised when Hartono turned out to be attached to them," said policewoman Betty.
Hirdjan said that Hartono could be charged for violating either the criminal code's chapter 296 or 506, which forbids sexual procurement and threatens the violators with 1.2-year or one year maximum jail terms, respectively.
The Chapter 292 sees sexual procurement as crime, while the Chapter 506 sees it as a misdemeanor. The lesser charge was used by the South Jakarta District Court in sentencing Hartono in 1986 for a similar crime. (jsk)