TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Stolen Brompton bike for UK social aid program allegedly for sale in Indonesia
In a letter sent by the company to a local biking community, the Brompton team claimed that the bike had been stolen from a UK health worker.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Brompton folding bikes in various colors are parked during the day in Sukoharjo, Central Java. (Shutterstock/Ferrari Septiano)
A
stolen Brompton folding bike from a social campaign program aimed to support medical workers in the United Kingdom is reportedly being offered for purchase in Indonesia, the British manufacturer said.
The London-based Brompton recently contacted local community Brompton Owner Group Indonesia (BOGI), notifying its members that a stolen bike was made available for purchase by an unauthorized seller in Indonesia in late June.
In a letter sent by the company to BOGI, the Brompton team claimed that the bike had been stolen from a UK health worker.
The stolen bike was designated for the company’s Wheels for Heroes campaign, which aimed to provide UK’s National Health Service (NHS) workers with 1,000 bikes to help their mobility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the bikes, health workers can get to work without having to take public transportation.
BOGI founder Baron Martanegara posted the notification letter in the group’s Facebook group on Wednesday.
“Brompton has issued an official letter and red notice statement, [...] if any members have any information or have [the bike], please contact me,” he wrote in the post.
Baron also posted a screenshot of a letter addressed to him from Brompton senior Asia marketing executive James Ku.
“I am sending this email to kindly seek for the Indonesian Brompton communities’ support to help us identify and recover the stolen bike by spreading the message within our local community,” James wrote in the letter.
Read also: Cycle of crime? Brompton bikes seized over regulatory discrepancy in Indonesia
In Brompton’s notification letter, which was also posted by Baron, the company said the bike had a crime number report and was listed on the UK’s stolen bike register.
“Please be on the lookout for any further Wheels for Heroes bike in Indonesia and don’t hesitate to contact us on this matter, all information welcomed,” the letter read.
“All Wheels for Heroes bike were manufactured to contribute towards a greater cause and each bike has meaningful value for every NHS key worker and the kind funders of the bikes.”
As of July, the company that it has provided over 900 NHS staff with bikes through the program, raising around 320,000 (US$402,192) pounds from over 2,000 donors, adding to the company’s initial investment of 100,000 pounds to produce the bikes.
Both Baron and James did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post’s request for comment at the time of writing.
Although Brompton has yet to open an official store in Indonesia, demand for the premium bikes — with prices ranging from Rp 30 million ($2,183) to Rp 80 million — has been on the rise in the country, along with the rising popularity of folding bikes.
The company has sold about 5,000 Brompton bikes to Indonesian consumers over the past three years, tempo.co reported.
