Bid TIK Polda Kepri – Gorontalo. Police have appealed to residents to be aware of criminal acts involving vehicle embezzlement, using the method of renting the car and then pawning it.
The Criminal Investigation Unit of Gorontalo City Sub-regional Police, Police Assistant Superintendent Leonardo Widharta says that with the rapid digital development, there are many new methods of crimes to ensnare their victims.
“We recently arrested five perpetrators of car embezzlement under the mode of renting and then pawning it and we have named all of them as suspects,” he said, as reported by Antaranews, on Thursday (2/20/2025).
Leonardo conveyed that people must be more vigilant with this new method, especially for car rental/borrowing service providers, where the perpetrators will come pretending to rent a car, but then pawn it instead to someone else who is outside the area.
He said that to smooth their evil plan, some perpetrators act as consumers who will rent a car to be used for urgent needs outside the city, with a motorbike as collateral.
After the rented car has been successfully taken and arrived outside the area, the other perpetrators will sell the car to someone else.
The money from the sale of the car then will be divided among the other perpetrators according to the role of each perpetrator.
Specifically for the Gorontalo City area, his party has revealed that the five perpetrators who were arrested are a syndicate that has been operating with the same modus operandi for a long time.
In addition to one car unit that was successfully confiscated, it is estimated that there are still dozens of other units that the perpetrators managed to sell outside the region, and currently an in-depth investigation is being carried out, including looking for the possibility of other perpetrators.
“With this incident, we, the Police, urge residents to remain vigilant with people they do not know, especially rental business owners. The identity of the person who will borrow or rent a car must be confirmed first,” Leonardo explained.
