Singaporean's bribery claim probed
Singaporean's bribery claim probed
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police are investigating alleged bribery involving five police
guards after a Singaporean arrested for theft, Tang Khen Seng,
32, alias Jeremy, told local television stations that he had paid
his way out of detention last week.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said Thursday that
the five police personnel were still being detained and
interrogated for allegedly receiving bribe money from Jeremy, who
was arrested for allegedly breaking into guest's lockers in spas
and fitness centers of several five-star hotels in the capital.
"Up until today, there is no evidence that our officers
received bribes from Jeremy. However, we are still questioning
them. If we find enough evidence we will punish them according
to the law," Tjiptono said.
He said the five police guards, including guard shift leader
Adj. Sec. Insp. Mayer Manalu, admitted that they had been very
close with the suspect during the last two months of his
detention.
"It is normal for guards and suspects to talk with each other
as they meet every day," Tjiptono said.
Last Friday, Jeremy successfully persuaded guards on duty to
let him use the visitor's toilet, instead of the prisoner's
toilet. He broke through the window of the toilet and escaped.
After several days on the run, Jeremy was arrested on Tuesday
evening by local police at the Conrad Hotel in Denpasar, Bali
while allegedly trying to steal visitor's personal belongings in
the hotel's locker room.
Upon his arrival from Denpasar last Wednesday, Jeremy told
several TV stations that police guards offered him a way to
escape in exchange for money.
"They offered it to me ... and I paid them some money to let
me escape," he told reporters in a door-stop interview in front
of the city police general crime division building.
Jeremy also complained that police officers had treated him
harshly.
Tjiptono denied Jeremy's allegations saying that police had a
code of conduct for treating suspects and that he had injured his
legs by jumping from the third floor of a hotel in an effort to
avoid arrest by security guards.
"His earlier case file is complete. Prosecutors will probably
declare it complete in two days," said Tjiptono.
Jeremy was charged under Article 363 of Criminal Code on
theft, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
He was arrested for the first time on Dec. 7 last year
following a police investigation into allegations that he was
involved in the theft of visitor's belongings in gymnasiums and
spas at several five-star hotels in Jakarta.