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Dozens of small businesses fall victim to scam linked to free meals program
The victims said the perpetrators allegedly pretended to be part of a business association partnered with the government to run the free meals program.
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Ready-to-eat: Workers stack packaged lunches for students of SMA Muhammadiyah 2 high school in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Jan. 6, 2025, the first day of the free meals program. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)
D
ozens of small catering businesses in Tasikmalaya, West Java, have fallen victim to a scam that promised opportunities to become vendors for the free meals program, marking yet another fraud case linked to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship initiative.
The victims said the perpetrators allegedly pretended to be part of a business association partnered with the government to run the free meals program.
They also allegedly claimed that they had received an instruction from Cabinet Secretary Maj. Teddy Indra Wijaya to find vendors for the project.
The scammers allegedly demanded that each caterer pay Rp 8.5 million (US$521) for hygiene and halal certifications, plus an additional Rp 2.5 million for technical training.
The incident took place last month, just a few weeks before the free meals program was set to launch on Jan. 6. In total, 35 caterers in Tasikmalaya fell victim to the fraudulent scheme.
One of the victims, 35-year-old Moena Rosliana, revealed that she even spent Rp 800 million to build a kitchen for the free meals program, allegedly following the scammers' instructions.
“Although we didn’t have enough money to build the kitchen, we pushed ourselves to complete it and speed up the process,” she said on Thursday as quoted by Kompas.com.
