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An immigration officer in Batam has been dismissed after he was allegedly involved in extorting money from foreign tourists at the Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal.<\/p>\n
A third-party broker linked to the case has also been arrested, reported Indonesian news outlet CNN Indonesia.<\/p>\n
“Two people were identified as being involved, one internal individual and one external party,” said Batam immigration chief Hajar Aswad at a press conference on Sunday (March 29).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both men had reportedly extorted up to <\/strong>$300 from victims from countries including Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, China, the Philippines and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n The money would then be spilt among the officers and brokers, reported CNN Indonesia.<\/p>\n Based on preliminary investigations, the extortion began with a demand for $100 from a foreign tourist, but negotiations between the victim and the broker allegedly escalated to $300.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Hajar, immigration authorities and the police are investigating the flow of transactions including securing CCTV footage from the port as evidence.<\/p>\n “The case is still being handled. Immigration and the police are currently investigating the transaction flow,” he said, adding that the extorted money will be returned to the victims.<\/p>\n The case follows earlier reports of foreign tourists arriving by ferry from Singapore who were allegedly extorted on Riau Islands on March 13.<\/p>\n On March 29, Riau Islands regional immigration office head Ujo Sutojo said his office has identified an employee with the initials JS, along with a third-party individual, AS, as suspects in the scheme.<\/p>\n “Any officers involved in the case will be penalised according to disciplinary procedures,” <\/strong>news agency Antara quoted the immigration chief as saying.<\/p>\n xingying.koh@asiaone.com<\/a><\/p>\n [[nid:732546]]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n