Five arrested for car theft

JAKARTA: The city police revealed on Friday that they had arrested five suspects for allegedly stealing cars and selling them without their proper documents to unwitting customers.

“One of the suspects was arrested on June 5 while selling a stolen SUV in a parking lot of a South Jakartan mall,” the police’s car theft unit chief, Comr. Arie Ardian, told reporters.

“From there, we developed the investigation until, finally, we arrested five people and confiscated 15 stolen cars in evidence,” he said, adding that the number of suspects and cars in the case might rise further as the investigation deepened.

The suspects, who began operating earlier this year, allegedly sold the stolen cars with forged vehicle registrations. Each of the cars, ranging from a Daihatsu Xenia to a Toyota Fortuner, was priced at between Rp 30 million (US$3,210) and Rp 70 million.

The five suspects were identified as AL, 40; D, 33; LIL, 43; RD, 33; and YUS, 29. D was charged with fraud, embezzlement, document forgery, and dealing in stolen cars under the Criminal Code. RD and YUS were charged with the last two crimes. LIL and AL were charged with being accomplices to the crimes.