Having lost his job six months ago, Sulaiman Damanik could not say no when a man came by his village offering 150 million rupiah (S$22,000) for his kidney.

Unemployment, coupled with his elderly parents' dependence on him for care, made him the perfect target for organ solicitors.

Sulaiman calculated that the money offered was the rough equivalent of 16 1/2 years of work as a labourer in Galang in Medan, Sumatra.

The 26 year-old saw the money as a massive windfall that could potentially end his financial difficulties and enable him to live comfortably for the next few years.

Instead, Sulaiman was caught in Singapore. Another man caught was Toni, 27, who was offered 186 million rupiah (S$29,390).

Toni, too, lost his job two months earlier. His wife was expecting their third child and he had to pay growing mortgage payments for their house in the rural district of Nogorejo, Medan.

'Ripe for the picking'

Both men were 'ripe for the picking', noted by District Judge Bala Reddy yesterday when he sentenced Sulaiman to two weeks' jail and a $1,000 fine. Toni received a heftier sentence of 14 weeks' jail and a S$2,000 fine.

It was noted by the judge that the men had not actively solicited an offer for their kidneys, but were exploited due to their "poor and socially disadvantaged background".

Of Sulaiman, Judge Reddy noted that: "When he was identified by the syndicate as a potential donor, he was approached with an offer, which for a person of his social and economic background, would have been difficult to resist."

The judge also highlighted that the syndicate "appears to have struck at the right moment" to compel Toni to sell his kidney.

Both men came from similar backgrounds. The two only had three years of secondary education and served as the sole breadwinners in their families.While Sulaiman earned $120 monthly as a labourer, Toni made $140 as a garbage collector.

However, after being approched by the syndicates, their lives took separate routes.

Though Sulaiman agreed to donate his kidney, he was caught before the operation was performed. He only received $50 as allowance for the week he spent in Singapore preparing for the operation.

On the other hand, after Toni's kidney was taken from him in exchange for the 186 million rupiah, he faced health problems, attributing the pain and dizziness he felt to his operation.

As a result, he is still unemployed as the surgery had left him weak and unable to summon the physical strength needed for his usual manual labour.

Toni's lawyer, Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed, summed up his client's current state of mind when delivering a mitigation plea.

"Although Toni received the money in exchange for his kidney, he is suffering from poor health after the operation and is very worried it would be life-threatening without good and regular medical care, which he cannot afford."

What they did

Sulaiman Damanik entered a deal last month with Wang Chin Sing, C K Tang boss Tang Wee Sung and other individuals to donate one of his kidneys to Mr Tang.

He was to be paid 150 million rupiah for the organ, but the operation did not go
through when the deal was uncovered.

He was arrested with Toni, another Indonesian, who sold one of his kidneys to Juliana Soh for 186 million rupiah in March.

After the transplant, Toni became a runner for the syndicate, liasing between Sulaiman and Mr Tang, accompanying the would-be donor to meet Mr Tang and for medical screenings.

Both men had also lied before a Commissioner for Oaths that no money was paid and that they were related to the recipients of their kidneys.

What they got

Sulaiman was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment for making a false declaration and fined $1,000 or a week's jail for being part of an illegal organ-supply chain.

Toni, the runner, was sentenced to three months in jail for assisting in the crime, as well as another two weeks for lying in the declaration and fined $2,000 or two weeks' jail for organ-trading.

Maximum penalties

Under the Human Organ Transplant Act, organ-trading bears a fine of $10,000, 12 months jail or both.

The act of making a falst statutory declaration carries a prison term of up to three years and a fine.