Police in Kuta said they recently arrested a Mauritanian woman after she allegedly stole a British tourist’s credit card and used it to purchase more than IDR400 million worth of goods in Bali.
According to local media reports, police said that the British tourist, identified as Holly Jemima Hartley, lost her credit card on Oct. 21, not long after checking in at a hostel in Seminyak.
Hartley didn’t notice that she had lost her belongings, until she received a call from her father about a large transaction amounting to £22,765 (IDR414 million) on her credit card. Upon realizing that she had lost her credit card and driver’s license, she proceeded to file a report to the Kuta Police.
“Based on a print-out of bank transaction that the victim provided us, a team from the Kuta Police immediately headed to one of the places where the transaction took place,” Ika Prabawa from the Kuta Police told reporters earlier today.
Authorities were able to confirm with surveillance cameras that two women were there to make the transaction. One of them was identified as a foreigner, while the other an Indonesian.
Police alleged that the women went shopping around Mal Bali Galeria in Kuta, including at a mobile phone and jewellery store. The women were then tracked down, and a Mauritanian woman identified as Roughaya Abeidi was arrested on Oct. 31 at a villa in Seminyak.
Though Abeidi is suspected to have committed the crime along with an Indonesian woman, the latter has yet to be identified and is still considered a witness in the case.
“Based on our initial interrogation, the suspect admitted to have done several transactions at MBG [Mal Bali Galeria]. She said she’s only done this once, and had found the credit card on the side of the street,” Ika said, as quoted by Detik.
Under Indonesia’s criminal code, Abeidi faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment if convicted.
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