Police officers escorting two dozen suspects in an online gambling case ahead of a press briefing at the Jakarta Police headquarters in Jakarta on Nov 25, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: The police have widened their online gambling investigation by questioning a high-ranking official from the Communications and Digital Ministry, in an apparent attempt to uncover the conspiracy of government workers abetting the illicit activity and receiving kickbacks in return.
“[We] have questioned a director general [from within the ministry],” Jakarta Police general crimes investigation director Sr Comr Wira Satya Triputra was quoted by Kompas.com as saying last Friday.
“[The director general’s status at the moment] remains a witness,” he went on to say, stopping short of revealing the official’s identity. The questioning of the senior ministry official came after the Jakarta Police arrested 24 people, including 10 employees of the Communications and Digital Ministry, late last month.
Among the arrested ministry officials was Adhi Kismanto, who served as an expert staffer to former communications minister Budi Arie Setiadi despite having previously failed the ministry’s selection test. Budi Arie was a close ally of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
According to the police, the ministry officials had been extorting money out of thousands of online gambling websites in exchange for allowing them to operate in the country. The officials were aided by around a dozen people, who acted as middlemen in the operation.
The middlemen allegedly compiled lists of gambling websites that were willing to pay kickbacks to the ministry officials and also pooled the illicit money received from the sites.
The operation ran from April until November, when the police arrested the suspects.
Investigators also seized Rp 176 billion (US$11,095) in assets, including cash in rupiah and foreign currencies, as well as nearly 30 cars and motorcycles.
Aside from the police investigation, the government has been urging social media platforms such as X, Telegram, Google, Meta and TikTok to more proactively block illegal gambling websites. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
