a real estate agency in Jakarta was scamming expatriates in renting apartments for longer periods than the actual leases.
"Quality means operating under the highest standards of ethical behavior!" This is a boast by KCR Estate Indonesia, which has been tearing the tenants by issuing false leases.
fraudulent agency is part of a company called PT Kharisma Resources Chindo, led by Elsa Theresya Wardhani and her husband, who goes by the name of Richard Verning and calls himself as Richie and Rick P.
a screenshot of KCR website, a real estate agency in Jakarta who was scamming expatriates in renting apartments for longer periods than the actual leases
an expatriate woman last year used the services of Elsa to find an apartment in Jakarta. She paid for two years of rent in advance to a bank account under the name of Hari Jadi and received a signed rental agreement. There are a few weeks, the owner visited the apartment with a lease of one year, recalling the woman she will have to leave soon, as the year was almost up.
When the two sides reviewed the leases, they realized their signatures had been forged by Elsa and bank account details were different on the two leases. They tried to call the agent, but all three of its known phone numbers were inactive.
KCR registered address is at Taman Rasuna Apartments in South Jakarta. The resort's security guards say Elsa has not been seen there over two weeks and that many police officers have been looking for it since March. A debt collector said guard also often been looking for her.
Several tenants, mostly Indian nationals, who have rented via KCR, have encountered problems when trying to have returned deposits. It then appeared that more than a dozen families had been duped by the company and locked out of their apartments.
Anyone who has rented via KCR should recheck with their owners that their lease is in order. KCR offers apartments and houses for rent throughout Jakarta, especially in Kuningan and Kemang.
Rick P currently lists rentals www.rumah123.com. He also used www.livinginindonesiaforum.org to offer an apartment for $ 3,500 per month for a minimum of two years. Nationality could not be verified, but some of the victims reported him to the Embassy of India.
website KCR, www.kcrpropertyindonesia.com, still online at the end of March, bears the ironic slogan "service you deserve. People You Trust. "The site claims the company has been operating since 2008, even though it was not recorded until 2013. In addition to the rental property and sales KCR also offers visa services, cleaning services, resettlement and relocation, design and construction services, and fight against rodents.
in short, the website may appear professional, but it is plagued with spelling and the awkward grammar, as "human resourches" and "carriers" instead of "careers". the text is error free was swiped from other sites. for example, KCR's vision of "Providing the sustainable value through innovation "is plagiarized from Santa Fe Relocation Services.
Elsewhere, whole paragraphs of the spiel of KCR were lifted from a relocation company in the UK called Sterling. For example: "Many of our first customers are still working with us today, and in a recent customer survey 90% had either we actively recommended, or would if asked. We like to think that because we are working hard to understand the challenges and goals of companies we work with -. So we can be more than just another service provider "
Section Pest Management ofEven KCR, which mentions" leaving dead rats in the attic ", was lifted from the website ' rat extermination company based in Florida.
It remains to be seen if the police will hunt Elsa and Richie. an earlier case of fraud apartment, reported in this column in September 2015, did not result in the arrest of the author, Naomi Catharina Sahita that his victims were asylum seekers who felt too intimidated by the police to pursue legal action.
If you intend to buying property in Indonesia, which can be a high risk investment for foreigners, be sure to check the authenticity of the land certificate with the national land Agency (BPN).
is not unknown for fraudsters, acting as agents and / or owners to sell properties using false certificates. Often, these properties have been rented only the true owner for a short period.
fraudulent sale of villas are a common problem in Bali, such as false advertising on property websites, as victims are tricked into making payments for properties.
Embassy Sale
Foreigners can not own land under freehold title in Indonesia, but that has not stopped many expatriates to engage in land scams. Some of these scams have diplomats involved -. Usually as victims, but there was at least one exception, when an ambassador is sold land and buildings of its embassy
In 2000, the military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf has decided that its country could save money by owning rather than renting and diplomatic residences embassies. No problem in Indonesia, as founding president Sukarno had offered Pakistan an embassy building and the residence of an ambassador. However, Pakistan's ambassador to Indonesia at the time, Mustafa Anwer Husain, a major general retired in July 2001 decided to sell the land and buildings of the embassy in Menteng, Central Jakarta, to an Indonesian company. The sale was completed in February 2002. The Pakistan media alleged the properties were sold below market value and that kickbacks were received by the ambassador.
Husain, who studied at the Indonesian Army Staff and Command College in 1969-70 and later served as an instructor of Musharraf, made the sale without the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan. The deputy ambassador, Mushtaq Rizvi, denounced the allegedly illegal sale and was reassigned as a "special duty officer." - Equivalent to a suspension
An interdepartmental committee is opposed to the sale, but law enforcement was lacking motivation or weight to go after a military buddies Musharraf. After Musharraf's fall from power in 2008, Pakistan was investigating the sale and legislators are now demanding action be taken against the former ambassador.
Access evidence of alleged real estate corruption in Indonesia will be difficult for Pakistan's anti-corruption agency. At least in Indonesia, the police should be able to understand the local real estate fraud, provided that the authors are not in the corridors of power.