TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The police seems to be missing some ground in handling the case against Darren Chen Jia Fu, also known as Suryo Tan. Three different police departments have taken different actions in the stock buying scam involving the defendant and Southern Keratong Plantation Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company.
Suryo was first reported to the police by Low Kok Thye alias Dr. Nick, director of Southern Keratong Plantation, for not paying the shares the defendant purchased from the company which owns several oil palm plantations in Paser regency, East Kalimantan. Suryo was also accused of embezzling Rp63.589 billion from 2013 to 2015.
The case was initially handled by the South Jakarta police precinct in August last year. Enthusiastic investigators called dozens of witnesses but failed to interrogate the suspect who never responded to their summons. Their attempts to pick up the suspect from his office and apartment failed because another group of 'policemen' was guarding the places.
Eventually, the case was taken over by the Jakarta metro police which was said also to be probing another case reported by Dr. Nick. The case transfer was reportedly done only on the verbal instruction of the chief of the crime investigation unit at the metro police. Alas, after three months, the case went nowhere, although four more witnesses were interrogated and Dr. Nick was temporarily detained.
Feeling frustrated, Nick reached out to Tempo. He revealed that his company had issued substantial amount of money to Suryo Tan who claimed to have used it as grease money to pay senior police officials to help expedite licenses for new oil palm fields in East Kalimantan.
Soon after the subsequent article was published, the crime investigation unit of the national police took charge of the case. Suryo Tan was arrested and detained at a metro police cell. This new development revealed three distinct inconsistent modes of case handled by three different police departments.
The obvious lack of clear and substantive legal grounds over how the case was handled is bound to create a certain image of the police, depicting them as a law enforcement agency that can be easily swayed, interfered with and intervened, particularly as the case implicates quite a few senior police officers, despite denials of involvement.
The police also exhibited a lack of professionalism and independence when they allowed other elements, including their own unit members, to intervene or bow to pressure. Their sole duty in pursuing the case should be to seek and uphold the truth. Nothing more, nothing less.
Investigators should be given leeway to probe the case with ease and without pressure. When the dossier is complete, the case should be transferred to the prosecution and then to the court for due legal process. Let the court decide whether Suryo Tan is guilty or innocent. Intervention of any kind in the case, particularly from the police, would be highly deplorable. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine