Two bankers busted for robbery

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police said on Monday they arrested over the weekend three robbery suspects, two of them employees of state bank BNI and Bank Indonesia.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said officers from the Depok Police arrested on Friday MDN, an employee of BNI's Kramat branch in Central Jakarta, SN, an employee of Bank Indonesia, and businessman HD in front of the Pesona Kayangan housing complex.

"We are still searching for one more suspect, AR, who managed to flee when the police made the arrests," Paiman said.

He said the victim in the alleged crime, Nurdin, was offered an exchange rate of Rp 12,000 to the dollar by the suspects.

The official exchange rate is Rp 9,200 per dollar.

Seeing the opportunity to make a profit, Nurdin withdrew $20,000 from his savings account. The transaction was to be conducted in a car in front of the Pesona Kayangan housing complex in Depok.

Nurdin handed over his money to AR, who got out of the car as he pretended to check the dollars. AR then ran to a nearby motorcycle and fled the scene with the victim's money.

"Nurdin immediately called the police and we managed to nab the three other suspects before they could flee," Paiman said.

He said the Depok Police were questioning the three suspects about the whereabouts of AR and whether they had committed similar crimes in the past.

Officers found four stacks of Rp 100,000 bills inside the suspects' car, but only the top bills were real, Paiman said.

"The lower bills were only paper. We believe the stacks were to be used to deceive the victim in the transaction. However, we don't know why AR fled and left his three companions behind," Paiman said.