(5/3/2005)
On Wednesday, April 27, 2005, an Australian tourist, identified in the press only as "Miss Merry," tried to change US$225 into Indonesian Rupiahs at John's Shop, located in the mid-Legian area. A short time later, Miss Merry ended up literally giving a black eye to one of Bali's numerous dishonest money-changer.
As reported in the Indonesian-language Bali Post, Miss Merry and a traveling companion were lured into John's Shop by a sign falsely proclaiming the location as an authorized money changer. Once inside, they exchanged their money only to discover at the end of the transaction that they had been short-changed by the unscrupulous owner of the shop, Nyoman Yasa, some Rp. 720,000 (approximately US$73.50) .
Distraught and upset at the shoddy treatment received from Nyoman Yasa, Merry left the art-shop-cum-moneychanger location and came to tears whilst standing in front of the shop.
Young men and women from the surrounding community, standing nearby and participating in a local religious ceremony, saw the very visibly upset Ms. Merry and enquired after her welfare. Once the crowd determined the root cause of Merry's distress, a frightened Nyoman Yasa quickly admitted his fraud causing the crowd to angrily set upon the young trickster.
A short time later, badly bruised and beaten, Nyoman Yasa was handed over to the Kuta police precinct who continue to investigate the case.
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