Jakarta News
Japanese underworld criminal organizations such as the Yakuza are allegedly behind a cybercrime network in Jakarta involving up to 96 Chinese and Taiwanese citizens.
According to the Jakarta Police crime directorate head Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti, the foreign citizens were recruited by a Taiwanese person, identified by the initials AKI, and an Indonesian, identified by the initial W.
Using Visas on Arrival (VoA), they entered the country gradually and were picked up by W based on instructions from AKI, who resides in Taiwan.
"They were promised jobs when recruited, so they are victims as well. The recruiters [AKI] in Taiwan and [W] in Indonesia have been arrested," said Krishna on Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.
The cybercrime network operated out of low-key offices on Jl. Parangtritis IV in Ancol, North Jakarta, and on Jl. Adyaksa Raya in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.
Krishna said the suspects pretended to be public officials when contacting businesspeople in China by phone or via email. They promised to allocate projects to the businesspeople and later asked them for money.
The suspects also blackmailed public officials over alleged corruption and extramarital affairs.
"The victims are mostly from China and Taiwan. The network itself was protected by big [criminal] organizations in Japan such as the Yakuza. The crime involves four countries," said Krishna.
AKI and W will be charged with violations of Law No. 21/2007 on human trafficking, Law No. 11/2008 on information and electronic transactions (ITE) and Law No. 6/2011 on immigration.
Meanwhile, the police and the directorate general of the Law and Human Rights Ministry will be deporting many of the foreign citizens for allegedly misusing their visas.
