The Jakarta Post
Date: June 26 2015

Riau Islands Police are cooperating with Interpol in Taiwan in the investigation of fraud cases following the arrest of 58 Taiwanese people in Batam, Riau Islands.

The arrests were made on Thursday in two houses in two different residential complexes in Batam after the police received reports from neighbors about suspicious activities in both houses.

“We received the reports last week and we followed them up before the arrests on Thursday,” Riau Islands criminal division head Sr. Comr. Adi Karya told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

All 58 suspects – 52 men and 6 women – were found to be holding Chinese passports. They are allegedly involved in fraud cases targeting Chinese people in the region. The suspects allegedly contacted victims listed in phonebooks then threatened and cajoled them into sending them money.

Adi said he then contacted Senior Police Officer Jay Lee, who was also an Interpol officer in Jakarta to assist him in the case.

Lee said there had been 10 similar cases found in Indonesia, including in Bali, Semarang, Central Java and Jakarta.

“We will follow up the case,” he said.