Police warn public of U.S. dollar swindle syndicate

JAKARTA (JP): The city police have issued a public warning over the rising incidence of U.S. dollar swindles allegedly perpetrated by foreigners targeting gullible city residents desperate to make easy money.

Chief detective Col. Gories Mere said on Tuesday that the foreigners, most of whom allegedly come from African countries, had taken advantage of the depreciation in the value of rupiah against the U.S. dollar to set up a foreign exchange scam.

"They are actually facing similar economic difficulties in their own countries, but they know how to utilize the momentum of the crisis here, where people want to get rich easily by gathering as many dollars as possible."

The crooks place authentic large denomination dollar bills at certain intervals in wads of dollar sized pieces of paper dyed black using a chemical substance. They explain the black dye is to avoid attracting the attention of potential thieves. When pushing for a sale, the con men remove the original dollars from the pile and rub the dye off to convince customers of the authenticity of the money.

They attract customers by offering rates well below official rates on the market. Gories said victims had been offered US$100 for only US$50.

"As soon as they have made a sale, the con men check out of their hotels and move on," Gories added.

Since last year, the city police have arrested at least 20 people from a number of countries suspected of involvement in the sting, Gories said, adding that he believed that a syndicate was operating in the country.

Victims, mostly currency traders and members of the middle and upper classes, have come forward in Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan, he said.

Gories expressed concern that many more victims had not reported being swindled to the police for fear of looking stupid.

In Greater Jakarta only six people have reported being tricked in this way over the last six months, he said.

"Victims in cases of this nature are usually ashamed to report the crimes to the police because they appear greedy, stupid and gullible."

Based on information provided by victims who have come forward, the police on Monday apprehended three Cameroonians suspected of involvement in a swindle carried out in a hotel in the Pintu Besar area of Central Jakarta.

Police identified the three as Mangam Zacharia, Mboka Gabriel and Nouni J. Marie.

According to Gories, the three confessed to having obtained over Rp 40 billion ($3.6 million) from their swindling activities.

The police also arrested two Liberians, identified as Bill Smarat and David D. Doe, in an Ibis Hotel in Central Jakarta on Saturday.

Police seized three boxes containing 3,000,000 pieces of black paper cut to the size of U.S. dollar bills from the suspects.

The boxes were stamped: "United States of America, Federal Reserve notes."

However, one of the suspects, Mangam Zacharia, said he ran a garment business in his country and strongly denied the police allegations.

"I was in my hotel room when police knocked on the door then began to search the room without asking my permission," he said.

The five suspects are now in city police detention pending further investigation. (emf)