Rental Owner With Crypto Payment Tool In Bali Arrested By Police

Head Of Public Relations Of The Bali Police, Kombes Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto/ANTARA/Rolandus Nampu

The Regional Police Team arrested a car rental business owner for using crypto as a means of payment.

Head of Public Relations of the Bali Police, Kombes Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, said TS (33) was arrested on Monday, May 29 in Jimbaran, Badung, Bali.

"The person concerned opened a car rental business by offering through social media and accepting payments with crypto," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, May 30.

The disclosure of the case stems from news in the mass media regarding crypto assets being used by payment transaction tools at a number of business places in Bali that are offered openly to the general public.

After receiving this information, the Bali Police Cyber Unit Team conducted an investigation by searching the internet and it was found that there were several places in the form of cafes, car rentals, properties that offered crypto as a means of payment for transactions on websites and social media.

Meanwhile, Head of Sub-Directorate V Cyber Crime Ditreskrimsus Bali Police AKBP Nanang Prihasmoko arrested the perpetrator because according to the Law for Indonesian territory it has not been allowed to make transactions using crypto other than transactions using rupiah currency.

Nanang said the arrest of the perpetrator began with information and the viral news using crypto, so the Bali Police Crimean cyber team conducted an investigation through social media and internet searches.

"Then we found social media there included in a group advertising car rentals. There we entered to ask about the rental process, on average there were foreigners who rented using crypto money and we used police techniques," he said.

After successfully contacting the perpetrator or suspect TS to make a transaction, the team asked to give a swallow so that they could pay for the transaction process using crypto in the swallow

After the perpetrator gave the barcode, the team met somewhere for transactions in the form of car rentals.

"When making a car transaction, we arrested the suspect TS along with his car and cellphone, where there was a swallow and crypto from one of the cryptocurrency exchange accounts to rupiah and other accounts," he said.

After that, the team took the perpetrator to the office for an investigation process and was named a suspect to be submitted to the investigation process.

For his actions, TS was charged with Article 33 Paragraph (1) of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 7 of 2011 concerning Currency with a maximum imprisonment of one year and a fine of Rp. 200 million.