Dredge Hundreds Of Millions Profit From PMI To Japan, NTB Police Set 2 People As Suspects

The police are guarding two suspects in the PMI recruitment mode fraud case to Japan when they want to attend a press conference at the NTB Police Headquarters, Mataram, Monday (11/11/2024). (ANTARA/Dhimas B.P.)

MATARAM - The West Nusa Tenggara Regional Police uncovered a case of alleged fraud with the mode of recruiting Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) to Japan by naming two suspects with the initials WS and SE.

The Director of General Criminal Investigation at the NTB Police, Kombes Syarif Hidayat, said that the disclosure of this case began with the follow-up to reports of 17 victims who felt cheated by the modus operandi of the two suspects.

"So, the victim in this case was asked to spend money in the range of Rp. 30 million to Rp. 50 million per person for registration, because until now he has not been dispatched, victims who feel aggrieved then report to us and from the results of the investigation we have named two suspects," said Syarif Hidayat at a press conference in Mataram, Antara, Monday, November 11.

From the investigation process, Syarif explained the roles of the two suspects. The male suspect with the initials SE is the Director of PT Radar Sumedi Efendi Indonesia (RSEI) based in East Lombok Regency.

He revealed that the company owned by SE did not have a permit to hold an internship for the placement of PMI's work to Japan. Furthermore, the role of the suspect WS as the owner of the Wahyu Yuha Job Training Institute (LPK) based in Ampenan, Mataram City.

In this case, WS was revealed to have abused LPK's license by recruiting victims to work in Japan through a company owned by suspect SE.

"So, the victims were recruited by the suspect WS in the period December 2023 to June 2024 with the modus operandi of promising internships in Japan through PT RSEI, which is based in East Lombok," he said.

During the recruitment period, the suspect SE was revealed to have collected Rp630 million from the victims with a personal profit of Rp168 million, while the suspect WS raised funds from the recruitment of victims of Rp926 million with a personal profit of Rp296 million.

"The profits obtained by the two suspects in the recruitment period from December 2023 to June 2024 were obtained from 28 victims. However, 17 people have just reported each victim who reported this, 6 of them from Mataram, 5 from West Lombok, 4 from Central Lombok, and 2 from North Lombok, so there are still 11 other victims who have not reported yet," he said.

The evidence confiscated in this case is 2 sheets of learning activities at LPK Wahyu Yuha, 1 work contract, 60 requirements documents from the victim, in the form of educational diplomas, birth certificates, and Curriculum vitae.

There are also accreditation certificates of PT RSEI, LPK profile Wahyu Yuha, deed of establishment of institutions and companies, cooperation agreement letters, 11 registration fees receipts from victims, 30 savings books, and one computer unit.

"So, departing from the examination of documentary evidence, witness statements and victims, experts, we have named both of them as suspects in this investigation process and both of them have been detained at the NTB Police Detention Center," said Syarif.

In determining the suspect, investigators applied Pasak 11 in conjunction with Article 4 of Law No. 20 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons and/or Article 81 jo. Article 69 of Law No. 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers.

"From the articles we imposed, the two suspects are now facing a minimum sentence of 3 years and a maximum of 15 years with a fine of at least Rp120 million and a maximum of Rp600 million," he said.