Civil Servant Arrested For Fake Singapore Dollars

http://thejakartaglobe.com/national...llars/350602

January 03, 2010
Farouk Arnaz

Civil Servant Arrested for Fake Singapore Dollars
The National Police last week arrested a resident of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on suspicion of possessing and distributing Rp 1.3 billion ($138,000) worth of counterfeit Singapore dollars.

A police official told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday this was the country's biggest counterfeit bust involving Singapore dollars.

"We uncover a lot of counterfeit rupiah and US dollars but we were surprised by this find," said Brig. Gen. Radja Erisman, director of economic crimes at the National Police.

Radja said the suspect, Viktorino dos Santos, 54, a civil servant, changed the counterfeit Singapore dollars into rupiah at a bank in Kupang.

"The suspect had already exchanged 10,000 counterfeit Singapore dollars, worth Rp 1.3 billion, at a Bank Mandiri branch," he said, without saying when the transaction occurred.

Radja said the bank teller failed to spot the notes as fakes.

"The counterfeits were only discovered when they arrived at Bank Mandiri's treasury division in Jakarta," he said.

Markus Klau, a Bank Mandiri employee in Kupang, was able to identify dos Santos as the person who exchanged the counterfeit dollars. The police interviewed two other Bank Mandiri officials - Suyuti, from the treasury division, and Loerintius Aris Budianto, the branch head in Kupang, before making the arrest.

Radja said police were working to trace the bills to find out where they were printed and who else was involved. He said the National Police would work with authorities in Singapore in the investigation.

"We hope the suspect will be cooperative and reveal his accomplices," he said.

Dos Santos could be charged under the Criminal Code on embezzlement and fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

In May, police arrested five people for possessing more than 4,000 fake Rp 100,000 bills.