Indonesian agency blocks 5,000 bank accounts linked to online gambling; trillions of rupiah channelled overseas

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s financial intelligence government agency has blocked some 5,000 bank accounts related to online gambling that are said to have channelled trillions of rupiah overseas.

The funds were detected to have flowed out of Indonesia to 20 other countries, news outlet Detik reported on Tuesday (Jun 18). 

"There are 20 countries currently detected (where online gambling money flows) which is worth trillions," said Mr Ivan Yustiavandana, who is the head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK). 

While the PPATK did not identify the 20 countries, the agency’s head of public relations M Natsir Kongah had previously said that there were several countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where illicit money from online gambling in Indonesia had been parked. 

"(There are flows of funds to) several countries in ASEAN: Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam," Mr Natsir was quoted as saying by Kompas.

Mr Natsir said that his agency has a way of detecting accounts related to online gambling, including the mechanism of money circulation.

"The mechanism, we already know how the perpetrators (of online gambling) send (money) to small dealers, from small dealers (and then) to large dealers ... It also turns out that a lot of money from online gambling is fled abroad, and the value is above five trillion rupiah (US$305 million)," said Mr Natsir.

In an online discussion titled “Dying of Gambling” on Jun 15, Mr Natsir said there were 3.2 million Indonesians who were involved in online gambling, ranging from students to housewives.

More than 80 per cent of these online gamblers play with a relatively small transaction value of around 100,000 rupiah. 

"It is known that many (online gamblers) are minors, elementary and junior high school (students), beggars, those who do not have jobs, and informal sector workers, both individually and in groups," said Mr Natsir.

Online gambling, Mr Natsir warned, is also closely related to other legal violations, including illegal online loans and fraud. Government officials have also suggested there are links between online gambling and money laundering. 

Indonesia's communications and informatics ministry claims to have blocked more than two million online gambling sites so far, but they continue to pop up. To combat online gambling, President Joko Widodo on Jun 14 officially authorised the formation of a taskforce to combat the scourge of online gambling. 

Led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto, the taskforce - which consists of officials from different ministries and agencies - is tasked with formulating recommendations to optimise the prevention and enforcement of online gambling.

The taskforce was established because the Indonesian government considers online gambling to have violated the law and caused financial losses, social disruption, and psychological impacts with sustainable criminal effects.

Earlier this month, an Indonesian policewoman was charged with killing her husband, a fellow police officer, by allegedly burning him to death because of his gambling addiction, in a case which has cast the spotlight on online gambling in Indonesia.

According to the police, the woman had become upset after learning that her husband only had 800,000 rupiah left in his bank account, just days after receiving his bonus of 2.8 million rupiah.

It was found that the dead man was known to be addicted to online gambling and had previously squandered the family's money.