Yamisa head declared suspect in fraud case
Yamisa head declared suspect in fraud case
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Chairman of Alhi Sunnah Wal Jamaah (Yamisa) Islamic foundation
Abdur Rahman was declared a suspect on Thursday for his role in a
financial fraud involving thousands of people in West Java.
Greater Bandung Police chief Comr. Hendra Sukmana said that
Abdur, a resident of North Jakarta, had confessed to receiving Rp
20 million from the three who filed a complaint with the police
in June.
After ignoring several summonses, Abdur went to the local
police station on Wednesday where he was questioned for 20 hours
until Thursday morning.
Three persons -- Hamdani Brata Suwignya, Sumeilyi N.K. and
Agus Mahmud Salam -- lodged a complaint with police authorities
in June, alleging that Yamisa leaders had cheated them into
paying Rp 18.5 million to the foundation in order to be appointed
as regional coordinators in Kerawang, Majalengka and Kuningan
respectively, all in West Java province.
"This is a very old case, which was uncovered only after the
people complained that they had been cheated by Yamisa," Hendra
said in Bandung, West Java, on Thursday.
Police records showed that Yamisa had started mobilizing
public funds in 1999, attracting prospective members with
extremely high interest rates.
For example, they promised a monthly salary of Rp 500 million
to regional coordinators, apart from Rp 2 billion in grants and
Rp 500 billion in deposits.
The police, however, found difficulty in uncovering Yamisa's
operations as no complaint had been filed by the victims.
"It is difficult (for police to investigate) if there is no
public complaint or hard evidence. A fraud cannot be established
if no one complains about being cheated," Hendra said.
The amount of public funds Yamisa mobilized is so far still
unknown, but according to Hendra, thousands of people had become
members of Yamisa.
According to Trisunu, a Yamisa leader detained since June, the
foundation had nine regional offices throughout the country, and
there was a total of 2,500 branch and 36,900 sub-branch offices.
Police said Abdur, a North Jakarta resident, would be charged
with fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in
jail.