An Australian man was arrested by Bali police at his Seminyak home on Feb. 1 for allegedly conning people with a villa sales scam.
The Australian national accused of fraud and embezzlement has been identified in reports as Eric Bevan Gillet.
From information gathered by local newspaper Tribun Bali, Gillet is accused of taking money from Ketut Samadi and Tommy Comerford in October 2013. Samadi filed a report against Gillet in 2014, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Gillet allegedly marketed villas and apartments on an online network, as well as in-person.
“The suspect said that the documents showed the villa, complete with a master plan or drawing of the villa to the victims, so Ketut S and Tommy were interested and agreed to buy the villa and apartment for an agreed upon price,” head of the public information division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Harmiti said, as quoted by Tribun.
“After a verbal agreement, based on mutual trust, the victims made money payments using the company PT. Parts Sentra Indomandiri for a transfer of 6.760.000.000, by way of bank transfer,” Harmiti added.
Harmiti explained that once the funds had been transferred, the victims asked for a copy of the documents, but Gillet was unable to present them.
“Both victims turned out to see the villa building was not in accordance with the initial drawing. Both victims also intended to cancel their agreements and ask for their money to be refunded. The suspect agreed, but until now, no money has been returned,” Harmiti said.
As of this afternoon, Gillet was under investigation at the General Police Criminal Investigation building, accompanied by his legal counsel.
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