JAKARTA (AP) – Indonesian authorities have arrested a Chinese man sought by Beijing for allegedly helping transfer and laundering almost USD18 million from a criminal online gambling group in China, officials said yesterday.
Yan Zhenxing was detained on Monday by immigration officers at a cross-border ferry terminal on Batam island, next to Singapore.
The Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement Yuldi Yusman said Yan was arrested following an Interpol red notice for him. The notices request law enforcement agencies worldwide to detain or arrest a suspect wanted by a specific country.
Yusman said Yan, a permanent resident of Singapore, was arriving in Batam for holiday with his family when he was detained.
Indonesian authorities brought the suspect, wearing a detainee’s orange shirt and a facemask, to a news conference yesterday in the capital of Jakarta. The suspect did not make any statements and was not asked any questions.
Yusman said that Yan was named as a suspect by police in China’s Inner Mongolia region who allege he was involved in transferring and laundering more than CNY130 million (USD17.8 million) from a criminal online gambling group.
He said Yan was handed to Indonesia’s National Central Bureau Interpol in Jakarta yesterday and a decision to deport or to extradite him to China will take some time.
The arrest came just two months after immigration officers on the tourist island of Bali arrested a Chinese suspect sought by Beijing who allegedly helped to run investment scams that brought in over USD14 billion from clients in China.
“We are committed to protecting Indonesia’s territory from the arrival of foreign nationals who are not useful and threaten national stability,” Yusman said.
