Increasingly Sophisticated, Criminals Can Enter Counterfeit Money At Cash Deposit ATMs

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - This banking crime occurred in the city of Semarang. It was not a bank person or a bank employee who committed a crime, but this time it was a criminal who made counterfeit money and put it in an ATM for cash deposit.

The Semarang Police arrested four people suspected of making and circulating counterfeit bills with printed notes totaling Rp1 billion.

Kapolrestabes Semarang Kombes Pol. Uliansyah Lubis in Semarang, Friday, said the perpetrators had their respective roles.

The four perpetrators arrested were Yapto Sudibyo (31), a resident of Muktiharjo Kidul, Semarang City, Suripto (51) a resident of Wonosobo Regency, Achmad Sodikin (49) a resident of Batang Regency, and Yasir Nugroho (35) a resident of Banyuwangi Regency, East Java.

According to Auliansyah, the disclosure of this network stems from a bank report that found counterfeit money in an ATM cash deposit machine.

"The perpetrator's mode is by depositing money via ATM cash deposit," he said accompanied by the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Semarang Police, AKBP Indra Mardiana, quoted from Antara, Saturday, November 28.

As for the roles of each perpetrator, the suspect Yapto was a fake money printer using a computer and printer machine.

The Rp100,000 counterfeit money was then sold to the Sodikin suspect at a price of Rp2.7 million per 100 pieces. The counterfeit money was then sold back to the suspect Suripto for Rp3 million per 100 pieces.

Suripto said the counterfeit money was still being processed to be combined with real money, before being deposited through an ATM. He explained that one original banknote in the Rp100 thousand denomination was divided into two and then affixed to one side of the counterfeit bill.

"The money is then deposited through an ATM. After entering, the money is taken again through another ATM," he said.

Together with the perpetrators, a computer and eight printers were allegedly used to produce the counterfeit money. For their actions, the suspects were charged under Law Number 2 of 2011 concerning Currency.