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After dispute with general's wife, new mother imprisoned for fraud
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A panel of judges at the Bekasi District Court prepares to read out a verdict for FT, a mother who was accused by her online shop customer, DW, a wife of a one-star military general, of online business fraud amounting to Rp 2.5 million (US$171). FT was sentenced to five months and seven days in jail. (kompas.com/Dean Pahrevi)
T
he Bekasi District Court in West Java sentenced a new mother to five months and seven days imprisonment on Monday for online business fraud worth Rp 2.5 million (US$171).
The defendant, identified as FT, who had given birth just four days prior, was accused by one of her online shop customers DW, a wife of a one-star military general.
Reading out the court’s verdict, presiding judge Lutfi said FT had been declared guilty of fraud in connection with her business selling clothes online.
“I accept [the verdict],” FT said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.
FT’s lawyer, Romy Leo, said the verdict was fair enough because the defendant would only have to be imprisoned for another 10 days, as she had been detained since May 4 in Pondok Bambu Women’s Penitentiary in East Jakarta.
The verdict was less than the prosecutors’ demand of eight months imprisonment. The prosecutors said they would wait a week before announcing whether they would file an appeal.
A lawyer from the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH Apik), Uli Pangaribuan, previously explained that FT, who was pregnant with her second child at the time, sold batik clothes through a Facebook account.
Among her customers was DW, who ordered 10 items of batik clothing worth Rp 2.5 million and paid in advance. It turned out that FT could not fulfill the order on the designated date. DW gave FT a one hour deadline to return her money.
FT had agreed to return the money. However, DW still reported FT to the police for fraud. Not long after receiving the report, the police arrested and detained FT.
Uli further said the case should have been settled through a mediation mechanism, as regulated in Supreme Court Regulation No. 2/2012, which regulates the boundaries of what constitutes a misdemeanor and the corresponding fines. (sau)
