Bali Provincial Government Supports Immigration Reveals 103 Foreigners Fraud Cases

Bali Provincial Secretary Dewa Made Indra/PHOTO: Dafi-VOI

DENPASAR - Bali Provincial Secretary Dewa Made Indra stated that the local provincial government supports the steps taken by Immigration and the police to uncover online fraud syndicates carried out by 103 Taiwanese by targeting victims outside Indonesian territory.

"The local government supports the steps taken by Immigration and the police because it is the institution that has the authority to do so. We believe that the steps are in accordance with the legal corridor," said Dewa Indra, Monday, July 1.

His party is grateful for the steps taken by the Immigration and the police who can uncover criminal syndicates in Bali, so that Bali as a tourist destination does not hold the title as a destination for committing crimes.

"Therefore, we fully support the actions taken by Immigration and the police as well as friends from the intelligence network who continue to sniff out the existence of such things. Hopefully all (crimes) can be revealed, everything can be obtained, everything can be cleaned up so that Baliclear (cleans) from the crime problem," he said.

Dewa Indra emphasized that the local government does not have the authority to take action against foreign nationals (foreigners) who commit crimes or crimes.

Tetapi, lanjut dia, dari aspek pariwisata dapat bekerja sama dengan asosiasi pariwisata untuk menginformasikan kepada pemerintah daerah dan aparat keamanan jika ada indikasi dari wisatawan yang melakukan praktik yang kurang baik.

Regarding the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) of Tourism which was recently formed by the Bali Provincial Government, Dewa Indra emphasized that they do not have the authority to take legal action, unless tourists violate the regional regulation.

"But if the issue of immigration is not within the authority of the region, nor is it the authority of the police," said the former Head of the Bali Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD).

Satpol PP Tourism, he added, the task is to provide tourist education so that actions that comply with the rules, which are in accordance with customs and if they commit minor violations can be given an explanation.

Previously, the 103 Taiwanese were arrested during a joint team search at one of the villas in Marga District, Tabanan Regency, Bali on Wednesday (26/6) after going through Bali Becik Operations reconnaissance.

Officers confiscated a number of items during the search which were suspected of being related to online crimes, including 450 cell phones, a number of electronic devices, passports, wireless internet equipment, and laptops.

Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement of the Directorate General of Immigration, Saffar Muhammad Godam, said that the brand carried out scamming or fraud but the victim of fraud was a foreigner in another country, namely Malaysia.

The Directorate General (Ditjen) of Immigration, he said, did not find any criminal elements in their arrests so that they could not be raised to the investigation stage.

"They carry out activities in Indonesia but the victims are in other countries, so it is very difficult to fulfill the criminal element of things like this," he said.

The next step is to deport the 103 Taiwanese.