Kantor Kita Boss Reported over $1m Land Fraud
DENPASAR ~ The owner of the well-known company-services firm Kantor Kita has been reported to police over allegations she embezzled more than US$1 million of a client’s money, police said.
Esti Yuliani, known as Julie Edmond due to her marriage to a British man, was reported by South African Johan Grundlingh, who claims she stole Rp16.1 billion (US$1.5 million) from him.
In his complaint, Grundlingh said he transferred the money to Kantor Kita for the purchase of land but that after a month, a land-ownership certificate had not been issued by the firm.
The complaint states that after seeing an advertisement in a local advertising publication, he had met Yuliani at her office on Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai, Sanur, and that she had told him she was a lawyer.
No record exists of Yuliani having taken Indonesian bar examinations and she is not listed as a practicing lawyer.
A Bali Police spokesman said the case was being investigated.
Kantor Kita, which was established in 2001 as a serviced office for visiting business people, expanded to include a property division, employment agency and consultancy in 2002. Julie Edmond is its managing director. Its client base is chiefly within Bali’s expatriate community.
It recently announced it had gone into partnership with a foreign investment and financial advice firm, the SFM Group. Its offices at Sanur began operations under that banner on April 1.
SFM, headquartered in Luxembourg and with offices in Europe and Singapore, describes itself as a “pioneer of excellence in bespoke financial investment solutions.”
Kantor Kita’s website, www.kantorkita.com, has been out of operation for an extended period. The site has a notice saying it is “undergoing reconstruction.”
SFM does not have an operational local website. An SFM company, SFM Group Training Services, operates in Indonesia.
Filed under: Headlines
June 10th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Julie Edmonds assured me that she would form a legal and binding Indonesian Land Company so I could legally purchase land in Indonesia. I paid over $6,600 USD to do so. The land company I formed was named “ThorpBoa” I left over $20,500. USD in that escrow account to purchase land on the Island of Rote. Diego Arrate was involved with this land transaction and To this date Over $12,000. USD has been paid to Julie Edmond to form the land company and Diego Arrate to secure the land from the families and to provide me with the titles proving that those families legally owned the land. Since the families did not have the money to pay for surveyors and then have the government place the stakes on the boundaries to mark the exact land line. I paid for all of this and in good faith left $20,500. in an escrow account that would be available to the land owners as well as to their agent Diego Arrate. To this date 2 years later 2 stakes are in I spent $6,600 USD with Julie, I have another $5,500 with Diego and now I have nothing to show for it. Except the possibility of an incarceration of a SCAM artist who led us to believe she was working in the highest integrity. I can only hope pray she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and she is liable to pay restitution to those she has stolen from
Sincerely,
John Thorp
June 10th, 2009 at 9:31 am
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
June 11th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Yeah, one more “Bule” victim of the Great Bali Land Scam. Mr John Thorp please buy the first available ticket out of this place and thank your stars that you get out of this place, forget the land & land deals, they are all distant dreams, you cannot own or buy anything in Bali or Indonesia unless you plan to get married to a local and she has the last laugh.
Harry
June 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am
How many times this happens every year,
How many times so many get burnt,
How many times someone new falls into the trap
When will people learn.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Regardless the Presumption of Innocence – she is presumed innocent until proven otherwise by the Court of Law – this might be a good lesson to learn for all the expats establishing businesses in Bali.
It is good to know that something like this could be prosecuted – in this case, a ‘bule victim’ as Harry says. But what about ‘local victim’ – ‘those bules’ who scam the local businesses? I wish they can be procecuted as well. And soon!
You will be better off, next time, when dealing with legal matters, to have ‘a due diligence’ on the party you are dealing with. Remember, consultants does not always know everything (as they might show they do – many of them will suck you dry anytime they have the chance!) – it is you at the end of the day who will suffer if something goes wrong. Do not be a victim just because of your laziness to verify information. Always remember the old Russian proverb: TRUST BUT VERIFY.
June 15th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Julie Edmonds stole 270,000.00 USD from my husband and myself under this same type scam. We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss. What we thought was a dream come true turned into a terrible nightmare. We are perusing legal action at this time, but are not overly hopeful. She has basically stolen our entire life savings. Just as a note, we did do our due diligence on Kantor Kita and Julie Edmonds. Until this time they had a sterling reputation in Bali.
June 15th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
There are many expats who have not had trouble in Bali but you dont read about them in the news. Pick your consultant wisely. Ask questions and get references and you will be fine. No consultant can eliminate your risk but it can be minimized.
Alfred
June 18th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I think you should also looking at the General Manager (Mike Goodwin) The company were having a difficulties after the GM took over
June 21st, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Michel,
Who are you to judge GM?
A lot of people are scammed by Kantor Kita before Mike Goodwin arrive.
You know him? Do you have evedence?
You know ISP can be tracked to find out who you are!
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Stealing money is not the last of the complaints. Many people have complained over the lenghy time it has taken Kantor Kita to make a company either as a CV PT or PMA. My company was waiting for the last certificate that was suppossed to take 3 weeks and has taken over 2 years. I just don’t get how long she thought she was going to get away with it. I hope they are able to freeze her accounts and goes to jail for 40 years!
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
And another thing. Kantor Kita is a middle man they then hire lawyers to do all the legal work. People buying land in Indonesia need to consult directly with the owners of the land and the legal lawyers hired by the middle men. Middle men like Kantor Kita should be relegated to the job of consultants and nothing more but never in legal matters because they are not a legal firm. No money should ever be given to the middle men. I know this because we have had to contact the lawyer who was doing our paperwork for my company because Kantor Kita were taking soooooo long.
Our original contact in setting up our PT left Kantor Kita 2 years ago. I asked her why she was leaving and all she could do was roll her eyes to the ceiling. We should have taken that as a warning sign. Anyone wanting legal stuff done should just go to an credited lawyer, there are many in Bali.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:24 am
For possible assistance, mail balilegal@gmail.com
August 7th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Any update on what is happening with the case?
August 8th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
[...] Kantor Kita Boss Reported over $1m Land Fraud [...]
September 15th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Still no update? Nobody who knows what is happening?
April 3rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
To Colin Anderson : WANKER!
August 26th, 2010 at 3:35 am
[...] the police do investigate and prosecute frauds. In the case of Julie Edmond and the KantorKita office in Sanur, Julie Edmond was accused of embezzling 1.5 million dollars from [...]