@citibank debt collectors in Jakarta kill man owing approx U.S.$5500 in credit card debt

from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-29/citigroup-collides-with-death-in-indonesia-emerging-market-debt.html

In life, Irzen Octa ranked among the least significant of Citigroup Inc. (C)'s 200 million customers. In death, the cash-strapped small-businessman from Jakarta has come to haunt the reputation of the world's 8th-biggest bank.

At dawn on an overcast March morning, Octa, 49, left his modest $60,000 row house on the western outskirts of the Indonesian capital and rode off on his Yamaha motor scooter into the frenetic traffic and equatorial heat. His destination: a Citibank office in a smart downtown neighborhood known as the Golden Triangle, where he was to discuss a 48 million rupiah ($5,500) principal debt on his Citibank platinum credit card, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue.

After dropping his younger daughter at school, Octa walked into Citibank's credit card collection department on the fifth floor of the Jamsostek tower just after 10 a.m. Four hours later, he left the 25-story building slumped motionless in a wheelchair -- a victim of what police allege was a violent assault by debt collectors. Driven to a nearby hospital in a Citibank car, Octa was pronounced dead on arrival.

There are starkly conflicting versions of what happened inside the room, barely larger than a broom closet, where Octa spent most of the time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 29.

Octa's widow is suing Citigroup for $348 million, claiming her husband died inside Citibank's offices after being beaten by debt collectors trying to extract the equivalent of $12,000 from him, including accrued interest.

rest at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-29/citigroup-collides-with-death-in-indonesia-emerging-market-debt.html