Husband And Wife Inoac Mattress Counterfeiter Arrested In Tangerang

JAKARTA - Tangerang Police have arrested a married couple (couple) who are suspected of committing a crime of brand counterfeiting. The two are TS (37) and his wife M (34), residents of Suvarna Sutra Housing, Sindang Jaya District, Tangerang Regency.

Tangerang Police Chief Grand Commissioner Pol Wahyu Sri Bintoro explained the incident began when sales marketing for mattress company Inoac met a customer who gave information that he had bought a mattress.

"When the sales inspected the mattress, it was discovered that the Inoac-branded mattress was not an original Inoac product," Wahyu said during a press conference at the Tangerang Police Presisi Building, Banten Police, Tuesday, December 28.

The sales then reported to the company's legal department about the findings of counterfeit Inoac products. Based on these findings, the company's legal team made a report to the police on Thursday 15 December. From the report, it is known that the location of the store is in Daru Village, Jambe District, Tangerang Regency.

The team from the Specific Crime Unit (Tipidter) of the Tangerang Police Satreskrim then conducted an investigation. Wahyu explained, based on the evidence that was secured, investigators then asked for expert testimony from the Director-General of Intellectual Property Rights at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

Based on expert testimony, the evidence that was secured was suspected to be a product with a fake brand.

"With the permission of the court, we also searched the suspect's shop and warehouse. We found evidence of dozens of mattresses of various sizes and types with the Inoac brand allegedly being fake," said Wahyu.

Wahyu then ordered a team led by the Head of the Tipidter Subunit of the Tangerang Police Criminal Investigation Unit Second Inspector Prasetya Bima Praelja to arrest the two suspects who were detected in Jakarta.

Based on the suspect's statement, the mattress was purchased from the Bogor area. Then after arriving at the warehouse, the mattress was affixed with a sticker or the Inoac brand. According to the suspect's statement, the action had been carried out since 2016.

"In a month, sales of mattresses in stores can reach 30 to 50 mattresses. While sales in warehouses reach 1,000 mattresses. So in a month, the suspect's profit reaches more than Rp100 million," explained Wahyu.

In order to account for their actions, the two suspects were charged with Article 100 paragraphs (1) and (2) in conjunction with Article 102 of Law Number 20 of 2016 concerning Marks and Geographical Indications. Both suspects face up to 5 years in prison.

"The case is still being developed, in order to reveal the possibility of other suspects or a larger network," said Wahyu.