0 Businessman arrested for stealing 27 cars

East Denpasar police arrested a man for allegedly stealing as many as 27 cars. The man, identified as I Made Arditha, 43, is the owner of a rental car company, the fleet of which includes cars owned by private individuals and entrusted to his care. The police report states that when the company suffered financial trouble, Arditha used the cars as collateral to get fresh cash from pawnbrokers. “I didn’t have any choice, I have many debts that I have to pay and pawning those cars was simply more profitable than renting them,” he said, adding that he had huge debts to his friends and the banks. 

“I took a huge amount of loans to cover the operational costs of my company.” He confessed that he had started pawning the cars entrusted to him one year ago. Family cars, such as the Toyota Avanza and Suzuki APV, were his preferred targets because it was very easy to find people or pawnbrokers willing to give him cash for that kind of vehicle. Each car generated up to Rp 25 million in cash. East Denpasar police chief Adj. Comr. I Putu Suprama disclosed that his men arrested Arditha following an official police report filed by Desak Ketut Sumbawati, 37, who claimed that the suspect had rented her car but failed to return it at the end of the rental period. 

“Arditha approached Sumbawati on Friday and stated his intention of renting the latter’s car. When the rental period ended, Sumbawati called Arditha repeatedly asking him to return the vehicle but he kept giving a vague answer, which led Sumbawati to suspect that Ardhita might be up to no good. She immediately filed a police report.” Several police detectives then followed up on the report, attempting to identify the suspect and determine his current address. Finally, they had solid information on the suspect’s whereabouts. 

When the detectives raided the house, they not only found the suspect but also eleven other cars, including six Suzuki APV, three Toyota Avanza, a KIA Pregio, a Daihatsu Xenia and Sumbawati’s car. “We are currently tracing the locations of all the other cars that Arditha pawned,” Suprama said, adding that the suspect confessed that he committed the crimes by himself. “We do not believe his statement and we are gathering information to find out whether he got help from other people.” Police investigators will charge the suspect with embezzlement, a crime that carries a penalty of four years imprisonment.

source : bali post