Bitung Police Arrested The Civil Servant Who Counterfeiting PCR Swab Results

MANADO - The Bitung Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Satreskrim) has arrested a Civil Servant (ASN) of the North Sulawesi Provincial Government. The perpetrator is suspected to have produced a fake COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result certificate.

Bitung Police Chief Indrapramana said that the disclosure of this case began on Saturday, July 24, at Bitung Harbor.

Starting from the report of officers at the Bitung Port Health Office (KKP) regarding the use of fake PCR swab results.

Then, on Sunday, July 25, the Bitung Police Criminal Investigation Unit Team conducted an investigation and received information that the user of the fake PCR swab results was domiciled in Amurang, South Minahasa.

“The Criminal Investigation Unit team then went to Amurang and interrogated the user of the fake PCR swab result. And the information was obtained that the intermediary for making fake PCR swab results is located at Mapanget, Manado", he said, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 29.

On the same day, the team went to the intermediary and was interrogated.

He stated that the maker of the fake PCR swab results was HES.

"Not wanting to lose the main target, the team immediately tracked down the whereabouts of the perpetrators, and finally they were secured in the Dimembe area, North Minahasa", said Indrapramana.

The police chief said that the perpetrator admitted to making and printing fake PCR swab results using his laptop and printer.

“The team then went to the perpetrator's house and secured a number of pieces of evidence. These include one laptop, one printer, one flash drive, and one fake PCR swab result, as well as the original one", he continued.

The method used is that the perpetrators wait for anyone who needs their 'services' to produce fake PCR swab results.

The perpetrator already has the PCR swab result file format stored on the laptop.

"If someone orders, the perpetrator then changes the identity in that format with the identity of the buyer or user, including changing the date according to its use", said the Police Chief.

To convince the customer, the perpetrators also always ask for an ID card, the results of an antigen swab, and a travel certificate from the village.

"The perpetrators charge for each production of fake PCR swab results with prices varying from IDR 800 thousand to IDR 1.5 million. The perpetrator admitted that he had made this fake PCR swab result approximately five times", said Indrapramana.

The perpetrators and the evidence have been secured and detained at the Bitung Police Headquarters.

"The perpetrator was charged with Article 263 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, subsidiary to Article 268 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, with a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison", said the Police Chief.