Credit Card Limitations

There are so many people in Indonesian who love credit cards.

According to news report, there are 14.3 million credit cards holders among our country's 240 million population.

This is obvious because credit cards provide possibility for people to live conveniently i.e. it provide them the chance to buy things by credit.

The bad thing about credit card is that it drove many of its holders into very consumptive people, it makes them buy things they want even though their financial position is weak.

I know some people whose monthly salary only enable them to pay the minimum payment limit i.e. 10% of the total credit card expenditures, therefore they facing trouble settling the credit and interest.

The most sadistic case happened last year when a holder of credit card issued by Citibank was beaten to death by debt collectors at the major U.S bank's Jakarta office.

In order to prevent credit card crisis, the Central Bank i.e. Bank Indonesia, issued regulation No. 14/2/PBI/2012 regarding Credit Card Transaction Procedures, among others as follows :
1) Minimum age of a holder is 21 (currently 17) years old.
2) Minimum salary of a holder is Rp 3 Million, maximum credit limit is 3 times the amount of salary.
3) Those who have salary below Rp 10 Million may only have two credit cards
4) Those who have salary above Rp 10 Million may get higher credit limit from the bank

The new regulation will become effective on 1 January 2013, with a two years transition period for banks to adjust their existing regulation with the said new regulation.

I hope that this new regulation would prevent any credit card crisis in the future.

Facebook is not a Friend of Bank Robbery Suspects

The news media have been reporting about some people who used the social media Facebook to take advantage of other people.

There were stories about young girls who were abducted or seduced by their male friends whom they met in Facebook, there were other stories about people losing money because they deal with the people they met in Facebook, etc.

However, there were also good stories about Facebook, for example an article by Paula Martersteck in Legal Blog Watch tells us about two bank robbery cases in the U.S whose suspects were arrested by the Police based on information available in Facebook.

In the first case, two bank tellers and their acquaintances were indicted this month in connection with a Texas bank robbery that netted US$ 62,000.00.

Investigators determined that the robbery was an inside job in part because of an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip that led them to two suspects' Facebook pages.

Two days prior to the bank robbery, one of the tellers posted a Facebook status update that read: "Get $$$." And two days after the crime, she posted, "I M RICH".

Meanwhile, the teller's boyfriend, who is apparently prone to similar celebratory online outbursts, allegedly posted the day after the robbery: "WIPE MY TEETH WITH HUNDEREDS." 

In the second case, a Michigan man was indicted after an informant told the FBI about the suspect's Facebook account, which was registered under the name of  "Anthony Mrshowoff Wilson."

According to U.S Federal Court records, Wilson's Facebook photos show him wearing attire (some with Polo emblems) that matches the clothing worn by the suspect in at least two bank robberies.

Facebook gave Wilson's birth date, cell phone number, photos, messages and friends information to the FBI, which compared the Facebook photos to images taken from a bank surveillance video.

This is a good news, and I hope that Facebook will keep on supporting our society in the future.

Citibank Case : Melinda Dee

U.S based Citibank is the largest and a well known foreign bank in Indonesia.

This is obvious because according to Wikipedia,  Citibank has had it presence in Indonesia since 1918 when its precursor, The International Banking Corporation, set up branches in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) and Surabaya. The International Banking Corporation withdrew from Indonesia in the late 1920s, but Citibank reopened in Jakarta in 1968.

Many banks in Indonesia have adopted system quite similar to Citibank and hired ex officers of the said bank

Because of many decades of good performance and public image, I was very surprised when I read on the media that Citibank's Senior Manager for Prime Customers i.e. Inong Melinda a.k.a Melinda Dee (47) who has worked in the bank for around 20 years embezzled Rp 20 Billion of the bank's customers' money. 

During a talk show on TVOne tonight, a PR officer of the Police said that it is now investigating the case thoroughly, for which purpose they have arrested and named Melinda and a Teller of said bank as Suspects.

Beside that, the Police has confiscated money, apartments, expensive cars i.e. Hummer, Ferrari, Mercedes Benz. worth Rp 20 Billion.

I am very interested to know the development of the investigation of this case.

Armed Robbery in Medan

 

In recent months, several armed robberies have took place in some parts of Indonesia.

The latest Robbery took place in broad daylight last Wednesday at CIMB Niaga Bank in Medan, North Sumatra, by 16 men carrying M-16 and AK-47 Automatic Rifles, and stole Rp 400 Million.

This is the third time in four months that armed robbers have 'successfully' stole money from banks in Medan. 

The first one was on 30 April when six armed men robbed Sumut Bank at noon and stole Rp 500 Million.
The second one was on 16 June when four armed men robbed Rp 50 Million Bank BRI at noon.

Some experts said that those armed robberies may have possibly been carried out by terrorists to finance their notorious activities.

I hope that the Police would catch those robbers very soon so that the people in Medan would feel safer.

For details, please read the following articles :
-  Sumatra Robbers Steal Rp 400m From Bank in Broad Daylight
-  Expert says Bank Heist May Have Terror Links

Photo : Courtesy of The Jakarta Globe.

BCA ATM Skimming

The Police arrested a supervisor of Bank Central Asia (BCA) for alleged involvement in the skimming of ATMs in Bali and Jakarta last January. That's what Kompas reported.

Considering that BCA is one of Indonesia's largest bank with ATMs all over the country, I hope that the investigation of this case can be concluded soon and those responsible should be prosecuted, tried in court and punished accordingly, so that customers can have peace of mind.

BCA Supervisor Arrested in Connection with ATM Skimming

Kamis, 4 Februari 2010 | 09:33 WIB

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) admits that one of its employees has been detained at the National Police Headquarters for involvement in ATM skimming. The BCA deputy managing director, Jahja Setiaatmadja, stated that the BCA perpetrator was a supervisor in a branch in Bandung.
"We've investigated further, and one supervisor on credit cards in Bandung has been arrested by the police or in the National Police HQ," he admitted through SMS, Jakarta, Wednesday evening.                                                                                      
He explained that the perpetrator has been arrested  for card cloning and PIN theft on four victimized customers. On top of that, according to him, the perpetrator is still being examined by the police for any connection with ATM skimming networks in Bali.

"As far as the info we've got, the perpetrator still hasn't been determined to be linked with the notorious ATM skimming in Bali, because the police investigation is still ongoing."

Jahja admits that so far the police has been cooperative with the company to resolve the ATM skimming cases. BCA continues to coordinate with National Police chief detective, Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi and spokesman, Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, regarding the case or arrest of this perpetrator.

"We've confirmed this with the chief detective, who's been a great support for us."

BCA PIN Theft

Holders of ATM Cards issued by Bank Central Asia (BCA) should be extra careful when typing the PIN (Personal Identification Number). Kompas reported that BCA has announced that there have been indications of PIN Theft.

BCA Traces Indications of PIN Theft

Rabu, 20 Januari 2010 | 14:15 WIB

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Bank Central Asia (BCA) releases an official statement regarding cracked ATMs in Kuta, Bali. For the time being the bank is suspecting them to be criminal action.

"There are indications of PIN theft done through peeping by unauthorized parties while the customers are doing transactions at BCA ATMs in Bali a few weeks ago," said the statement released by BCA's marketing communications PR sub-division.

The statement also mentioned that BCA has taken measures to prevent loss on the customers, however, the measures aren't mentioned in detail. Further information for safe transactions on BCA ATMs can be obtained from Halo BCA at 500 888 or 500 69, or 888 via cell phone.

Besides the cases in Bali, ATM crackings in Jakarta, in November 2007, were also much discussed. It happened to seven BCA customers in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The cause and MO of the crime is mainly because the customers forgot to exit the system of non-cash ATMs.
On a non-cash ATM the card is only swiped at the beginning, then the customer must provide the PIN for every transaction. So the thief can queue behind the customer and memorize the PIN. If the person forgot to logout/exit the system then the thief would be able to access the account immediately. (WAH/C17-09)

Ex-Governor of Bank Indonesia Jailed

On Tuesday, 16 June, Ex-Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Sahril Sabirin was sent to the Cipinang Penitentiary, East Jakarta, to serve his two years sentence passed by the Supreme Court in its Judicial Review for his role in the now defunct Bank Bali credit scandal case in 1999.

According to The Jakarta Globe, Sahril (65) was disappointed with this verdict considering that earlier the Supreme Court has confirmed the verdict of the Jakarta High Court that freed him of charges made by the Prosecutors. However, he said that as a law abiding citizen, he would serve the sentence.

Another Defendant in the same case, businessman Djoko Tjandra, failed to appear to serve his sentence, therefore the Attorney General Office will serve him a second summons. More details about Djoko Tjandra shall be discussed in a separate post.

Sahril Sabirin is the second ex-Governor of BI jailed after his successor Burhanuddin Abdullah was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment last year for a different corruption case.

Detik reported that earlier Sahril was sentenced by the District Court of Central Jakarta to 3 years imprisonment, but was later freed by the Appellate Court (High Court), and by the Cassation Court (Supreme Court).
Due to these facts, the Prosecutors have requested the Supreme Court to conduct Judicial Review. According to Sahril’s lawyer M. Assegaf the verdict is contradictory to the Criminal Procedural Law (KUHAP) Article 263 which stated that a Judicial Review should be submitted by a Defendant. Although the Justice Law stipulated that a Judicial Review can be requested by any parties concerned, the Constitutional Court has decided 'the parties concerned' should be interpreted as the Defendant and its heirs. Due to this controversy, Sahril and his lawyer are planning to challenge said Supreme Court's verdict.

I hope that the further processing of this case would be carried out smoothly according to the valid laws, and would not be politized by Candidates who are running for the Presidential Election on 8 July 2009.