"There are some Balinese ‘agents’ who help them (to make) the ID cards. They want to make an investment to ease the disbursement of funds," Bali Police's head of public relations, Senior Commissioner Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto said here on Friday.
The investigation into the alleged document forgery case involving the two foreign nationals—a Syrian identified as MZN and a Ukrainian identified as WN—is still ongoing.
The two foreigners were detained by immigration officers after they were caught in a raid conducted by the foreigners' supervisory team some time ago.
After immigration detained the two foreigners, the Bali Police began investigating the role of witnesses involved in the processing of the documents. The reason: the forged ID cards were officially issued by the Denpasar City Population and Civil Registry Office.
Some of the people examined by the Bali Police are still under witness status.
"There are several inspections on village heads and sub-district heads in Denpasar and Badung, and population and civil registry and immigration officers who are aware of the operation," Setianto said.
He informed that there are some foreigners in Bali who seek to open businesses by forging Indonesian ID cards to avoid legal obligations as foreign nationals.
Investigators found that there were parties who bridged the document forgery and were suspected of having connections with the parties issuing the documents, he added.
"There is someone who bridges the process, like a ‘sponsor,’ (who helped) the foreigners communicate to the sub-district and the population and civil registry officers," he said.
However, he denied that the document issuance has a link to a certain mafia and said he has not received definite information regarding the involvement of security personnel in the case.
The involvement of other parties in the processing of forged ID cards was allegedly due to the high sum offered by the foreigners, Setianto said.
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Translator: Rolandus N, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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