Three arrested over car registration fraud

JAKARTA (JP): City Police arrested three people believed to be involved in falsifying car registration data, which caused losses amounting to hundreds of millions of rupiah, a police officer said on Saturday.

Col. Soeroso, head of traffic directorate, disclosed that the suspects, identified as Zs, Hn, and Fr, acknowledged that they had committed the crime over the last four months. The police also revoked the documents of 30 luxurious cars because they were registered with falsified data.

Soeroso explained that the three suspects put false data into the police computer through Fr, the computer maintenance worker at Jakarta Municipality's Center Office for Electronic Data.

The two other suspects were in charge of looking for orders from car owners, who wanted to register their cars. Their clients were car owners who wanted to avoid the costs of processing the transfer of ownership.

People who buy second hand cars are obliged to pay the costs of ownership transfer, in addition to the annual taxes.

Some car owners try to avoid the payment of ownership transfer by borrowing the identification cards of the previous owners for the extension of the car documents. And the new way of avoiding the obligation is by getting syndicates, like the one run by Fr, Hn, and Zs, to falsify the data in the police computer.

"Because Fr knows computer technology and always controls the city police's computer, he can enter data into the computer network," Suroso said.

He said that the police are still investigating car registrations which were processed using fake data, or not processed through proper procedures.

A report recently disclosed that tens of registration documents, with improper information, are reportedly issued everyday by city police. The improper documents were mostly processed through service bureaus by giving additional payment, Jayakarta daily reported.

Traffic control

Suroso also announced that city police have expanded traffic control zones to enforce traffic order.

The control zones which previously covered only major thoroughfares on Jl.Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin are expanded to include Blok M and Harmoni, he said.

In Central Jakarta, the new zone covers Jl. Taman Suropati, Jl. Teuku Umar, Jl. Cut Meutia, Jl. Menteng Raya, Jl. M. Ridwan Rais, Jl.Merdeka Timur and Jl.Merdeka Barat.

In North Jakarta, the new zone include Jl. Yos Sudarso, Jl. Cempaka Putih, Jl. Enggano, and Jl. Tanjung Priok, while in West Jakarta the new zone covers the Slipi area, Jl. S. Parman, Grogol, and Jembatan Tiga.

In East Jakarta, the enforcement covers Jl. Matraman, Jl. Pramuka, Jl. Pemuda, and Jl. Dewi Sartika.

In the control zones police will take stern action against motorists violating traffic regulations.

The traffic order zones in Tangerang include Tanah Tinggi, Kelapa Kuning, Gendeng, Sukasari and Sukarasa areas.

In Depok the zones cover Jl. Margonda Raya, Simpang Gang Salak, Jl. Arief Rahman Hakim and Jl. Dewi Sartika, while in Bekasi, the control zone covers Jl. Achmad Yani and Jl. H. Juanda. (29)