inp.polri.go.id - Ngawi. The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Ngawi Sub-regional Police arrested five members of a counterfeit money distribution syndicate operating in several areas across provinces, two of whom are still active as village heads.

"The five suspects are now being held at the Ngawi Sub-regional Police Headquarters. Two of them are village heads, namely DM and ES," said the Ngawi Sub-regional Police Chief, Senior Superintendent Charles Pandapotan Tampubolon as quoted by Antaranews on Friday (5/30/2025).

He explained that the disclosure of the case began with public reports regarding the circulation of counterfeit money in the Ngrambe and Sine Districts.

From the investigation carried out by the local police, the police found traces of counterfeit money circulation in four regencies, namely Ngawi, Magetan, Madiun (all three in East Java).

From this case, five people involved in the circulation of counterfeit money were arrested, namely those with the initials DM (42) who still has the status of active village head in Sine, Ngawi; ES (55) who has the status of active village head in Ngrambe, Ngawi; AS (41) from Sragen, AP (38) a resident of Kuningan, West Java; and TAS (47) a resident of South Lampung.

 Charles said the counterfeit money was obtained from suspects AP and TAS with a one-to-three scheme. Meanwhile, the counterfeit money is suspected of being obtained and controlled by someone who is still being hunted, known as "Mr. X".

"We suspect there was an intellectual actor who promised quick profits to the perpetrators. We are currently investigating this," said the Police Chief.

For their actions, the suspects were charged with Articles 36, 37, and 26 of Law Number 7 of 2011 concerning Currency, as well as Article 245 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 of the Criminal Code with a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

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