Indonesian judges hit by scam

A senior Indonesian official has revealed that corruption is rampant among the country's judiciary - but that judges are the victims, not the beneficiaries.

Supreme Court Secretary General Gunanto Suryono said that several judges had fallen prey to a telephone scam in which they were offered promotion from someone posing as their senior, provided they paid up.

Those tricked into paying had lost between Rp 10m ($1,176) and Rp 100m ($11,760), Mr Gunanto told The Jakarta Post.

Once one of my staff members managed to talk to the impostor who was pretending to be him Supreme Court Secretary General Gunanto Suryono

Mr Gunanto, who said the criminals had contacted some judges claiming to be him, said police found it difficult to track down the impostors because they often used bank accounts opened with fake ID.

"Once one of my staff members managed to talk to the impostor who was pretending to be him. But when he asked the man to stop his act, he replied that 'cheating was his job,'" he said.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan, another official whose name was adopted by the impostors, said he was aware of the scam.

But he denied genuine officials had ever asked for bribes from junior judges.

The BBC's Jakarta correspondent says that corruption within the judiciary, and reforming it, are among the biggest problems facing Indonesia.