This is the reason Chinese citizens make love scamming headquarters in Batam
Photo: Riau Islands Regional Police hold a press conference revealing the love scamming case involving 88 Chinese foreigners. (Alamudin Hamapu/detikSumut))
Batam - Police raided 3 locations used by foreigners from China to carry out love scamming in Batam, Riau Islands (Kepri). The reason the perpetrators chose Batam as a place to carry out scamming was because it was located in a border area.
"The reason the perpetrators chose Batam to be the location of their crimes was because of its geographical location which is the border area of Malaysia and Singapore," said Deputy Chief of Regional Police for the Riau Islands, Brigadier General Asep Safrudin, Wednesday (30/8/2023).
Asep said that the perpetrators of love scamming had calculated that if they were later chased by the police, they could escape easily. Batam itself is known to have several international ports and airports.
"So they calculated that if the police knew it would be quite easy to get out of Batam. As we know, there are many international seaports and airports, making it very easy to escape," he said.
Asep said that the supervision of foreigners in Batam and the Riau Islands was the responsibility of all parties. The results of police coordination with immigration found no reason to detain foreigners who enter Indonesia.
"Results of discussions with Immigration, these foreigners from China entered Batam legally and had complete documents so they could not be detained from entering. So for this supervision the responsibility is not only immigration but all of us," he said.
Dirreskrimsus Polda Riau Islands, Commissioner Nasriadi, stated that the results of his party's coordination with the Chinese police revealed that the victims' losses reached tens of billions.
"The results of the coordination of losses for Chinese foreigners who were victims of Love scamming reached more than IDR 20 billion or 10 thousand Yuan. They have only been operating for two months," he said.
Nasriadi explained that the 88 Chinese citizens came to Indonesia separately. They arrived in Batam via Singapore to Jakarta then to Batam, there were also those who went directly from Singapore to Batam.
"So we have checked with immigration for some of them, that the way they enter varies. Some are from China to Singapore and from Singapore to Batam, there are those from China to Jakarta and from Jakarta to Batam," he said.
Asked whether the 88 Chinese foreigners were victims of human trafficking, Nasriadi said the perpetrators knew about the work they were going to do.
"So they already know that they want to do work like that and they have also agreed before coming to Indonesia. So so far we have not received any evidence that they are victims of TIP from their home country," he said.
- 88 Chinese foreigners were arrested in Batam for involvement in a cross-border telephone fraud syndicate and online romance scam after receiving information from the Chinese security ministry.
Reported by the AP, Thursday (31/8/2023), Zahwani Pandra Arsyad, spokesperson for the Riau Islands Police, reported that five of the 88 perpetrators were women. They were arrested on the island of Batam, adjacent to Singapore.
Ini Alasan WN China Bikin Markas Love Scamming di Batam
Foto: Polda Kepri menggelar konferensi pers pengungkapan kasus love scamming yang melibatkan 88 WNA China.(Alamudin Hamapu/detikSumut))
Batam - Polisi menggerebek 3 lokasi yang digunakan WNA asal China untuk melakukan aksi love scamming di Batam, Kepulauan Riau (Kepri). Alasan para pelaku memilih Batam sebagai tempat melakukan scamming karena berada daerah perbatasan.
"Alasan para pelaku memilih Batam untuk dijadikan tempat kejahatannya karena letak geografis yang merupakan daerah perbatasan Malaysia dan Singapura," kata Wakapolda Kepri, Brigjen Asep Safrudin, Rabu (30/8/2023).
Asep menyebutkan, para pelaku love scamming sudah memperhitungkan jika nantinya dikejar polisi, mereka bisa melarikan diri dengan mudah. Batam sendiri diketahui memiliki beberapa pelabuhan Internasional dan Bandara.
"Jadi mereka memperhitungkan kalau diketahui polisi maka akses keluar dari Batam ini cukup mudah. Seperti kita ketahui bahwa banyak pelabuhan laut internasional dan ada bandara, sangat gampang melarikan diri," ujarnya.
Asep menyebutkan terkait pengawasan orang asing di Batam dan Kepulauan Riau merupakan tanggung jawab semua pihak. Hasil koordinasi kepolisian dengan imigrasi tidak ditemukan alasan untuk menahan orang asing yang masuk ke Indonesia.
"Hasil diskusi dengan Imigrasi, para WNA asal China ini masuk ke Batam dengan legal dan dokumen yang lengkap jadi tidak bisa ditahan mereka masuk. Nah untuk pengawasan ini tanggung jawab bukan hanya imigrasi tapi kita semua," ujarnya.
Dirreskrimsus Polda Kepri, Kombes Nasriadi menyatakan hasil koordinasi pihaknya dengan kepolisian China diketahui kerugian para korban mencapai puluhan miliar.
"Hasil koordinasi kerugian para WNA China yang jadi korban Love scamming itu mencapai Rp 20 miliar lebih atau 10 ribu Yuan. Mereka baru beroperasi selama dua bulan," ujarnya.
Nasriadi menjelaskan 88 WN China itu datang ke Indonesia secara terpisah. Mereka tiba di Batam melalui Singapura ke Jakarta kemudian ke Batam ada juga yang langsung dari Singapura ke Batam.
"Jadi beberapa sudah kami cek ke imigrasi, bahwa cara mereka masuk itu bervariasi. Ada yang dari China ke Singapura dan dari Singapura ke Batam, ada yang dari China ke Jakarta dan dari Jakarta baru ke Batam," ujarnya.
Disinggung apakah ke 88 WNA China itu merupakan korban perdagangan orang, Nasriadi menyebutkan para pelaku telah mengetahui pekerjaan yang akan dilakukan.
"Jadi mereka ini sudah tahu kalau mau melakukan pekerjaan seperti itu dan mereka juga sudah setuju sebelum datang ke Indonesia. Jadi sejauh ini belum kita dapat bukti kalau mereka merupakan korban TPPO dari negara asalnya," ujarnya.
- 88 WNA China ditangkap di Batam atas keterlibatan dalam sindikat penipuan telepon lintas batas dan romance scam online setelah menerima informasi dari kementerian keamanan Tiongkok.
Dilansir AP, Kamis (31/8/2023), Zahwani Pandra Arsyad selaku juru bicara Kepolisian Kepulauan Riau melaporkan, lima di antara 88 pelaku tersebut adalah wanita. Mereka ditangkap di Pulau Batam, bersebelahan dengan Singapura.