Batam immigration officer fired, broker arrested after alleged extortion at ferry terminal

A Batam immigration officer has been fired after he was caught for alleged involvement in a case of extortion at Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal.

A third party, a broker identified as AS, has also been arrested, reported CNN Indonesia on Mar. 29.

Hajar Aswad, Head of the Batam Immigration Office, told reporters that two people have been identified for their involvement in the extortion cases.

They'd allegedly extorted up to S$300 per person from tourists from Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, China, the Philippines, and Bangladesh.

Previously, Batam authorities promised to investigate the alleged extortion cases, saying that they had a "zero tolerance" approach to illegal levies.

Extortion

Two groups of travellers told Mothership that they were subject to additional "fees" at the ferry terminal in recent days.

One Singaporean couple said that they travelled to Batam on Mar. 13, but were stopped by an officer.

Their passports were confiscated and they were told they'd acted "disrespectfully".

"The officers shouted, confiscated my phone, intimidated, and demanded S$100 penalty per person," the man, AC, said.

After officers threatened to detain AC and his partner overnight, they ended up giving in and paying the "fine" in cash.

Officers supposedly hid this in a stack under a keyboard.

Other traveller stopped

Another traveller, who gave his name as Nay, said he was travelling to Batam with his elderly parents on Mar. 14.

They hold Myanmar passports, but Nay is an Employment Pass (EP) holder in Singapore.

During immigration checks, an officer stopped Nay's parents and told them there were issues with their Malaysian visas.

He said that they had to pay S$150 per person, or be denied entry and sent back to Malaysia.

At first, Nay resisted, as they had visited Johor Bahru that morning and cleared Malaysia's immigration with no issues.

But seeing that his elderly parents were tired, he decided to cough up.

He managed to negotiate the sum down from S$300 to S$250, he said.

Extortion money went up

Hajar said that the case is still ongoing, and that CCTV footage has been secured as evidence.

Based on initial investigations, the extortion began with a demand of S$100 per person for foreign tourists.

This was eventually increased to S$300 per person.

The money was then split equally between the broker and the officers, Hajar said.

He said that Batam immigration authorities would return the extorted money to the tourists.

"The money has been used for personal gain, by the officials and the broker. We will return the extorted funds to the victims," he promised.

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