Search on for Millions as Kantor Kita Boss Remains in Custody
LEGIAN ~ The arrested head of local office-services firm Kantor Kita remained in police custody this week as the authorities attempted to track down “millions of dollars” of alleged stolen money squirreled away in bank accounts, The Bali Times has learned.
A police source told this newspaper that there were “many complaints” against Esti Yuliani, also known as Julie Edmond.
Several prominent Bali property firms’ clients have lost millions of dollars after Edmonds embezzled their transaction funds, people involved in the sector said.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Edmonds had been on a property buying spree abroad, purchasing a house in California for US$1.5 million as well as properties in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Bali Times understands that one of the two major complaints lodged that led to Edmonds’s arrest has been settled through repayment of cash and the other is in negotiation for settlement in a cash-and-property deal.
The two complaints – the allegations police are investigating – are reported to cover misappropriations totalling US$3.8 million.
But sources say the total money missing from clients’ funds could be as much as $10.5 million, or more. The bulk of the balance of around US$6 million reportedly is owed to small investors who have not lodged complaints with police and whose cases are therefore not being investigated.
The Kantor Kita office on By-Pass Ngurah Rai at Sanur closed its doors more than three weeks ago.
This week phone calls to the office went unanswered.
[Hector has more in this week’s Scratchings – The Bali Times Diary; Page 5]
