Runaway impostor caught dining in Ancol
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After more than two years on the Jakarta Police's most-wanted list, Raden Dodi Sumadi alias Harry Sumadi was arrested on Sunday afternoon in a cottage in Ancol, North Jakarta, while having a dinner meeting with colleagues.
"He is a very slick criminal. It was difficult to arrest him. If not for our three detectives' courage and experience, he would probably still be at large," city police special crimes division chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas said on Monday.
Dodi will be charged with violating Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud and Article 372 on embezzlement. Each article carries a maximum sentence of four years' imprisonment.
The city police set up a special team after Dodi appeared at the inauguration of Cabinet ministers at the State Palace on Oct. 21. Police have included the arrest of Dodi in their 100-day program under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's leadership.
Edmon explained that two members of the team were assigned to tail Dodi. From their investigation, the police found out that Dodi often spent the weekend at hotels or apartments.
"Our officers surveyed Ancol on Sunday at around 1 p.m. and we identified Dodi's car at Putri Duyung cottage," he said.
The police also found a fake ID card under the name of Harry Sumadi.
Dodi allegedly masterminded the case in which Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto, was conned out of Rp 15 billion (US$1.67 million). Dodi and Abdullah Sidiq Muin, an Islamic boarding school head, guaranteed Tommy that they could procure a presidential pardon from then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid for his 18-month conviction in an embezzlement case.
Dodi charged Tommy Rp 15 billion for the meeting, but Gus Dur rejected Tommy's request for a pardon. Tommy went on the lam and was arrested for masterminding the killing of a Supreme Court justice who had convicted him.
Police arrested and detained Dodi in 2002, but released him after the police detained him for longer than the maximum 40 days. Later, in May 2002, when the police were about to submit Dodi's case file and transferred him to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, the police could not find him.
Dodi had also swindled five other victims, whose total losses reached Rp 3.25 billion.
The latest case was when Dodi -- who pretended to be a Navy admiral and claimed to represent a bogus foundation called Obor Citra Bangsa -- with two accomplices, Arifino Abdy and Abu A. Rachman, who posed as Army major generals, conned PT Solar Sahara Investment printing company out of Rp 420 million.
Abdy told Solar Sahara president director Usamah Said that his foundation had secured a business deal with the General Elections Commission (KPU) to broker the printing of ballot papers for the July 5 presidential election.
Usamah, who wanted his company to win the tender, agreed to pay a Rp 420 million "booking fee" to the foundation. However, after the money was transferred, he never heard from them again.
The other victims were David Koswara, who lost Rp 1.325 billion and US$30,000, Achmad Zayuni who lost Rp 250 million and Farid Akbar who lost Rp 350 million.