Producer alleges new maid robbed family jewels

A maid working in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, used her first day on the job to allegedly abscond with thousands of US dollars in jewels, according to her boss.

“Rings, necklaces, bracelets - all of it was stolen,” the maid’s hapless employer, Metro TV producer, Sodung Hutagalung, said on Monday as quoted by detik.com.

“There was only Apipah, a new maid, at home. She just started to work on Sunday afternoon.”

Hutagalung said he and his family left home at 7 p.m. for Christmas dinner and returned home two hours later to find that his mother’s bedroom’s door had been opened by force.

“When we looked at inside the room, the wardrobe was also opened by force. My mother’s jewelry was gone – the jewelry she had collected since she was young. It was worth hundreds of millions of rupiah [tens of thousands of US dollars],” Hutagalung said.

He suspected that Apipah, employed via a recruitment agency in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, had an accomplice as great strength was needed to break down the door.

“Police said there were traces of a crowbar. We hope police can immediately find the perpetrator,” Hutagalung said.

The Tanah Abang Police are investigating. (mtq)