More often than not, a negative PCR test result is desired for ease of mind or as an administrative requirement, that the emergence of criminals selling fake negative results was a nigh inevitability. In Jakarta, it appears that there’s a demand for fake positive results, which is fueling a criminal trend.
The Jakarta Metro Police recently arrested four people who were accused of selling fake COVID-19 test results through social media platforms. While the suspects have clients who ordered fake negative results, they also served those ordering fake positive results, too.
“This is even more strange. So people aren’t just asking for negative results, they’re also ordering positive results,” Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said.
“Clients who ordered the positive results are usually people who don’t want to go to work. [Having COVID-19] excuses them from work so they order [from the suspects] and pay IDR170,000 (US$11.73).”
The suspects may face up to six years in prison each for falsifying documents. Police did not say whether or not they will pursue the clients as well.
Indonesia has not been short on people defrauding the system for personal gain amid the pandemic. In one notably disturbing case, police estimated that at least 9,000 people were swabbed with reused test kits in North Sumatra as part of a cost-cutting scheme by lab employees.
