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number of fake charity groups have emerged to take advantage of a growing movement to collect donations for two poor families whose children have a deadly nerve disease.

At least two fraudulent groups have been set up to collect money on behalf of Muhammad Azka Arriziq and Shafa Azalia, two 4-year-old toddlers suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a disease that attacks the nervous system.

The official charity set up to collect donations for the two toddlers “Gerakan Seribu Rupiah Perduli GBS” (One Thousand Rupiah Movement for GBS Patients), which was launched last week, said the two bogus groups were raising funds that they claimed would be channeled to Azka and Shafa.

“We found a BlackBerry message circulating broadcasting three bank accounts under the name of Felindo Mitra Abadi, to which donors could transfer money to help Azka’s and Shafa’s parents pay their medical bills. The three accounts are BCA No. 84000.84000, Bank Mandiri No. 125-00-333-77-888, and BRI No. 0416-01-0001-44-304,” chairperson of the official movement Silvia Wahyuni said on Wednesday.

Silvia said that the fraudulent group had also set up a Facebook account named “Gerakan Seribu Rupiah Perduli Azka, Shafa, and Tissa” (One Thousand Rupiah Movement Caring for Azka, Shafa and Tissa) which posted a BII bank account, No. 1-028-02988-6, to which donors should send donations for the GBS patients.

“We hereby announce to the public that there is only one GBS movement with only two bank accounts to which donors can transfer money: BCA account No. 7510-4159-60, and Bank Mandiri No. 10-1000-4880-56-1,” Silvia said.

Donors can also call 081383488810 or 08129922431 to verify their money transfers.

By Wednesday afternoon, donors had sent Rp 272,203,370 (US$31,800) to the two accounts.

The movement has also filed a report to the police about the fraudulent charity groups.

An investigation by the group found that the address of Felindo Mitra Abadi belonged to a tailor’s workshop in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

GBS movement deputy chairman Andi Handoko said the donations would be sent to the parents of both toddlers so that they could pay off their medical bills.

“Shafa’s father still owes Rp 300 million in medical bills to St. Carolus Hospital, where she was previously treated, while Azka’s father owes several people Rp 107 million in medical bills to Azra Hospital in Bogor,” Andi said.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih previously said that GBS was a rare immune disorder that attacked the nervous system.

However, Andi Handoko said he had received phone calls from parents of GBS patients as well as from those who claimed that the disease could be cured.

“It turns out that GBS is not a rare disease after all. But as far as we know, Azka and Shafa are so far the only toddlers with the disease,” he said.

Andi said most of the callers had asked for money to pay their medical bills, or inform the outfit that GBS was not a rare disease.

GBS is a severe disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. It is rarely found in young people. The syndrome leads to muscle inflammation, weakness and paralysis. It often follows infections, such as in the lungs or gastrointestinal tract.

Early symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness, uncoordinated movement, blurred vision and fainting. Later, victims experience difficulty breathing, and start drooling and fainting.

The GBS movement is also expected to help another GBS sufferer; 17-year-old Tissa Trinovia, who has been admitted to Dharmais Hospital.

“Tissa is the next on our list,” he said. (msa)