Police Reveal Case of Fraud in the Form of Selling Fake Gold in North Lombok

Prospective buyers show gold jewelry when buying gold at the Cikini Gold Shop Center, Jakarta. ANTARA FOTO/Muhammad Adimaja/foc

MATARAM - The North Lombok Police, West Nusa Tenggara, has uncovered a case of alleged fraud at one of the gold shops in Bayan District in the guise of selling fake gold.

Head of the North Lombok Police Criminal Investigation Unit, Iptu I Komang Wilandra, said in the disclosure of this case, his party arrested three women from Narmada, West Lombok Regency, with initials S (46), M (56), and MA (45).

"We arrested the three perpetrators for their alleged role as perpetrators of criminal acts of fraud by selling fake gold to the victim as the owner of an gold shop in Bayan," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, April 29.

He explained that the disclosure of this case began with the follow-up to the victim's report who claimed to have suffered losses after his wife bought a fake gold ring sold by the perpetrator S.

"The first incident was on Tuesday (21/4), at that time the victim's wife bought a ring that was sold complete with a note from one of the perpetrators. The purchase price was Rp2.85 million," he said.

The victim, who did not carry out transactions with the perpetrator, came to the store later. When checking the goods and notes further, the victim admitted that his wife had been cheated because she bought a fake gold ring.

"After checking, it turned out that the gold and the note were fake," he said.

A week later on Tuesday (28/4), the victim's wife again received a colleague of the perpetrator with the initials M who carried out a similar modus, selling gold rings complete with a note.

Because he did not want to be late, the victim's wife checked the details of the gold ring and the note which turned out to be fake and asked her husband who was the reporter of this case to come to the store to confirm this.

"After checking, the gold ring and the note were also fake. The victim immediately caught the perpetrator who was accompanied by the person who first sold (the perpetrator S)," he said.

Based on the findings, the victim secured the two perpetrators, namely S and M and immediately contacted the police.

"And from the results of the development, we managed to identify and secure another perpetrator with the initials MA in Narmada," said Komang Wilandra.

During the examination, the perpetrators had admitted their actions, namely selling fake gold accompanied by a note to convince the victim.

For their actions, the perpetrators are now suspects who are suspected of violating Article 492 of the Indonesian Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code with a maximum penalty of 4 years and a maximum fine of Rp. 500 million.

The police will continue to develop this case to trace other victims and the network of the perpetrators.

"We also appeal to the public to be more careful in carrying out transactions to buy and sell gold, and to ensure the authenticity of the goods before making a purchase," he said.