FIRST TAKE: Esti Yuliani with her then husband, Alvin Edmond, at a party in June 2007. The couple have since divorced.DENPASAR ~ Kantor Kita boss Esti Yuliani – also known as Julie Edmond – is known to have scammed at least Rp102 billion (US$10.2 million) but many victims have not reported losses and the final figure could be much more, Denpasar Police said this week.
Yuliani is in custody at Poltabes Denpasar, where suspects are held after arrest and while investigations are continuing.
She was arrested after a South African investor, John Grundlingh, 41, complained to police on May 29 that Yuliani had misappropriated Rp16, 104, 248, 000 (US$1.6 million) transferred to her business account for purchase of land in Denpasar by a CV company Grundlingh had arranged for Kantor Kita to establish on his behalf.
The money was transferred to Kantor Kita when Yuliani told him the certificated owner of the land had agreed to sell. But the land certificate was never produced and the landowner, named as Nahasnya, did not receive his money from the sale.
Police investigations indicate that Grundlingh’s money was never entered in Kantor Kita’s accounting records.
Police inquiries have also found that Grundlingh’s CV company, whose registered address was to be Kantor Kita’s office at Jl By Pass Ngurah Rai 379, Sanur, was established under a false certificate organised by lawyers employed at Kantor Kita.
Grundlingh had been attempting for months to find out from Yuliani and her office what stage his company establishment process had reached.
He told police – as reported in previous editions of The Bali Times – that he approached Yuliani advisors because he had seen advertisements for Kantor Kita in which the business touted itself as providing first-class services for foreign investors.
When they met, Yuliani had passed herself off to him as a qualified lawyer.
The head of Denpasar criminal investigation police, Rendra Radita Dewayana Sik, said this week: “Just one of the victims reported. There are four other cases [that police are aware of]. The defendant has admitted to these.”
In April, Kantor Kita announced it had formed a partnership with a Luxembourg-based financial advisory firm, the SFM Group. New signage was placed outside Kantor Kita’s Sanur offices. It was removed after Yuliani was arrested. The offices are now closed.
SFM Group, which describes itself on its website as “a pioneer of bespoke finance investment solutions, ” has offices in Europe and one in Singapore. Its training arm has done some work in Indonesia.
The company has not responded to requests by The Bali Times for comment on the Kantor Kita situation.
Kantor Kita’s Bali offices were to be its new Indonesian headquarters.
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