Bareskrim Still Completing The Shut Down Schedule Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Cellphones In The Aftermath Of Illegal IMEI Cases

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police will turn off or shut down hundreds of thousands of cellphones recorded using illegal International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The process is carried out randomly in several cities.

"Later we will close down randomly in several cities," said Director of Cyber Crime at the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency Brigadier General Adi Vivid to reporters, Monday, July 31.

This step was taken in the aftermath of the disclosure of the illegal IMEI registration case in the CEIR (Centralized Equipment Identity Register) system.

In that case, it was recorded that there were 191,000 cellphones whose IMEI registration process was unofficial.

However, regarding the time for the shutdown down, Vivid did not specify it. It is only conveyed if it is still in the scheduling process.

"Still compiling a schedule to shut down 191,000 cellphones recorded using illegal IMEIs," he said.

In addition, Vivid continued, his party will not immediately turn off the hundreds of thousands of cellphones. The socialization process will be carried out and establish a complaint post first.

"We will create a complaint post to record consumers who have become victims," said Vivid.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Cyber Crime, Bareskrim Polri, revealed cases of illegal IMEI registration in the CEIR system. Six people were named as suspects, two of whom were members of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) and the Director General of Customs and Excise.

"From the results of this disclosure, we have arrested 6 suspects," said the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, Komjen Wahyu Widada.

Two suspects are individuals, namely F who is a State Civil Apparatus (ASN) at the Ministry of Industry and A at the Director General of Customs and Excise.

Meanwhile, the other four suspects are private parties who play the role of suppliers of illegal electronic devices without rights in the entry stage. They have the initials P, D, E, and P.

The disclosure of this illegal access case began with a police report with the number LP/B/009/II/2023/SPKT/Bareskrim Polri, dated February 14, 2023.

In fact, the actions of the suspects caused state losses which were estimated at Rp353 billion.

"Earlier, what these perpetrators had done for 10 days, there were allegations of state losses, where the recapitulation of IMEI 191,965 pieces was calculated with 11.5 percent PPh, while the alleged state loss was around Rp353,748,000,000," Wahyu said.