Her victims said that, at first glance, Nathalia walked, talked and dressed like a cop. But she’s no cop.
The 61-year-old woman from Bandung is actually a retired civil servant. But she’s been going around the Rawasari neighborhood in Senen, Central Jakarta, while wearing a police outfit in order to scam people.
To pull off the scam, Nathalia made a police ID card, giving herself the rank of police commissioner. She also carried with her an ID card from the State Secretariat Office, adding gloss to her fake police identity.
She convinced an unnamed victim from Rawasari that they required a permit to import used clothing from the Ministry of Trade. And who else, if not ‘Police Commissioner’ Nathalia, could help the victim procure the permit? For a fee, of course. A mere Rp 10 million.
“The victim trusted [Nathalia] and wired the money to her BCA bank account on Saturday August 15. But after the money was sent, the suspect disappeared,” said Achmad Alexander, head of the Crime Investigation Unit at the Senen Police, as quoted by Warta Kota today.
The police managed to track her down and arrest her after her victim reported the crime. Nathalia reportedly pulled off the same scam in South Jakarta and Tangerang in 2013.
At the police precinct, the mother of four admitted that she decided scam people in order to fund her glamorous lifestyle.
“All that I made [from the scheme] was used to buy things like gold rings, gold watches, and to dine at restaurants,” Nathalia said.
“I justified all means [to do so], including going against the law.”
