Capuchins priests and brothers in Kalimantan lodged a complaint yesterday at the national police headquarters accusing five employees from the West Kalimantan branch of the National Land Board (BPN) of fraud over a property deal. The Capuchins say they bought a 16,000-square-meter plot of land in June 2009 – witnessed and logged by a notary -- in Sungai Raya Village, in Kubu Raya district, from a man called Hamid. But soon after, another person called Lou Bun Hwa claimed the land and produced a land title certificate. The Capuchins say they carried out an investigation which confirmed them as the legal owners. “I believe Lou Bun Hwa was on the land illegally. Hamid’s family, who were the legal owners, said they never sold the land to anyone else,” Capuchin Brother Stephanus Paiman said. The Capuchins believe the employees at the local BPN issued Lou Bun Hwa with a fake land title certificate. “We’re taking action because they issued a fake land certificate. They could be sentenced to eight-years in jail because of what they have done,” he said. According to Brother Paiman, who is also chairman of the Forum for Humanity Volunteers in Pontianak, the Capuchins went to the national police because a similar complaint submitted on June 26 to local police went unanswered. “I met Brigadier-General Anton Bahrul Alam, who heads the public relations department at the national headquarters, and several other police officers. They thanked me for submitting the report and promised to follow it up as soon as possible,” Brother Paiman said. He said the Capuchins will keep fighting for what is rightfully theirs.
