Two held for illegal telecom business
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested two foreigners for allegedly running an illegal international telecommunications operation in Jakarta, causing many companies to lose about Rp 2 billion (US$833,333).
Police are hunting for 13 other suspects.
The city police chief, Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata, said yesterday one of the men arrested April 25 was Malaysian and the other Pakistani. They were arrested in West Jakarta.
"The Malaysian, Ng Chee Leong, and Pakistani, Hasnat Ahmad Varya, have run their businesses in International Direct Dial (IDD) services here for more than three months," Hamami said.
Providing services for Malaysian customers, the two men used 10 illegally assembled hand phones provided with a three-party telecommunication system to back up their illegal base stations here, Hamami said.
"The two men were charged under Article 363 of the Criminal Code for stealing, and 1989 decree No. 3 on telecommunications, for illegally operating IDD base stations," he said.
Hamami said the two men used other people's numbers and hijacked telecommunications channels managed by legal telephone operators.
"The two have been cheating and have caused huge financial losses to many people, IDD service providers and cellular phone companies in Indonesia and Malaysia," Hamami said.
The West Jakarta police precinct chief, Lt. Col. Bakat Purwanto, said Leong and Varya set up the base stations at several places in West Jakarta, including Hotel Permata and rented rooms on Jl. Mangga Besar.
Bakat said coordination with the Malaysian and Pakistani Embassies was still needed to further investigate the two.
"The two are believed to be the masterminds behind this fraud case," Bakat said.
He said police were cooperating with Malaysian police to catch 13 other suspects who acted as agents in Malaysia.
Bakat said the duties of the 13 agents were to find Malaysian customers who needed IDD services to countries like Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, and the United States.
"These agents deposited the money, which they collected from the Malaysian customers, in Leong and Varya's bank accounts," Bakat said. (cst)