Two people arrested for making fake lubricants

BEKASI (JP): Two men have been arrested for allegedly illegally producing and selling oil and lubricants which were intentionally made from improper ingredients, Bekasi Police Chief Lt. Col. Adjie Rustam said yesterday.

The two men confessed that they had produced various lubricants for more than a year at their factory in Suka Danau, Cibitung, Bekasi, Adjie said.

He said the arrested suspects, Tommy Mulia, 37, and Yohanes, 47, were respectively the owner and the operational manager of the illegal lubricant factory, which was raided by police Thursday.

"The suspects have violated 1984 Industrial Law No. 5 for producing and selling such products without possessing a license or permit from related government institutions and authorities," he said. The law allows a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

"Tommy knew that he should have had a license from state oil company Pertamina to produce oil and lubricants. He also knew that he should have had Pertamina test his products," Adjie said.

According to experts from Pertamina, the lubricants sold by Tommy were made from improper ingredients which could ruin vehicle engines, he said.

Adjie said Tommy had claimed that he did not know how the ingredients affected engines.

Chemical ingredients Tommy used for processing the lubricant included paraffin, coloring and fragrance, Adjie said.

The suspects had produced various kinds of oil and lubricants for all types of motorcycles and cars, he said.

"The various lubricants, however, actually consist of the same exact mixture of ingredients," he said.

The illegal products had been marketed outside the Greater Jakarta area, namely Karawang and Cirebon in West Java, Malang in East Java and Bangka Island in South Sumatra, to avoid police detection, Adjie said.

"They sent around 9,600 one-liter bottles every two weeks to Bangka Island alone. Each bottle sold for around Rp 2,600 (86 U.S. cents)," he said.

He said Tommy had set up an illegal production factory at two rented houses in Suka Danau. "The factory was equipped with all the machinery and equipment needed to produce not only the oil and lubricants, but also the bottles, the aluminum seals and the plastic covers."

Tommy hired 27 employees -- 24 women and three men -- to operate the factory. He paid them Rp 5,700 a day.

Adjie said the 27 employees were not arrested. "They've only been questioned as witnesses," he said.

He said the factory had been closed down and 40,000 liters of oil, plastic pumps, eight tanks of ingredients and other things had been confiscated as evidence. (cst)