Indonesian police arrest suspect in Coldplay ticket scam
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A man views the presale countdown timer to buy tickets for a Coldplay concert in Jakarta.
PHOTO: THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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JAKARTA - The Central Jakarta Police have arrested a suspect named Ghisca Debora in a Coldplay concert ticket scam case that allegedly caused 5.1 billion rupiah (S$440,000) in losses to victims.
People who purchased the tickets said Ghisca claimed to personally know the promoter and have access to tickets.
Central Jakarta Police Chief Senior Commissioner Susatyo Purnomo Chandra said the police had investigated the claims and apprehended the suspect based on five reports from six alleged victims of the ticket fraud.
“On Friday... we named GDA (Ghisca) a suspect. We have had her detained since Friday,” said Mr Susatyo in a press conference on Nov 20.
Mr Susatyo said each victim reported a varying amount of losses. The first report was filed by a victim who believed they were purchasing 700 tickets for 1.35 billion rupiah. The victim bought 600 false tickets for 1.03 billion rupiah.
The third victim bought 400 fake tickets for 1.3 billion rupiah. Additionally, another victim filed a report with losses of 230 million rupiah.
“So, the total is 5.1 billion rupiah, or 2,268 tickets,” said Mr Susatyo.
Mr Susatyo said the police had seized luxury items they suspected Ghisca had purchased with the illicit funds. Among the evidence displayed by the police were several Hermes bags, Hermes sandals and an Apple MacBook. They also accused Ghisca of using billions of rupiah from the scam for personal expenses.
Ghisca reportedly confessed to the charges after being named a suspect. She was charged under Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud and Article 372 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement, with a maximum penalty of four years in prison. THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
