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

“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.