BANDUNG, SEATIZENS – Authorities have arrested 11 individuals connected to an online gambling case involving employees from the Ministry of Communications and Digital (Komdigi). Ten of these suspects are Komdigi staff members. They had the authority to block gambling websites but instead protected them due to connections with gambling operators.
The operators admitted to paying eight individuals responsible for monitoring online gambling sites. They gave these operators a monthly salary of Rp 5 million. One operator stated, “We have eight operators managing the online gambling links. I pay them Rp 5 million each month.”
Monitoring and Blocking Websites
The suspects worked from 10 AM to 8 PM. Their main task involved documenting websites that contained gambling content. However, they did not act on all of them. For example, of the 5,000 identified gambling websites, they only blocked 4,000. The remaining 1,000 sites were kept active and protected.
“It depends on the sites. Typically, we block 4,000 and keep 1,000 accessible,” one suspect explained.
The suspects claimed their actions to protect online gambling sites occurred without the knowledge of their office. One suspect insisted, “No, there was no involvement from the office. This was entirely my idea.”
Reports had previously identified 11 individuals as suspects in the online gambling case, including expert staff from Komdigi. This information came from Metro Jaya police spokesperson Kombes Pol Ade Ary Syam Indradi. He confirmed, “We have detained a total of 11 individuals, including civilians and some from Komdigi.”
Ade Ary also mentioned that the suspects rented an office in Bekasi, West Java, and faced allegations of abusing their authority. “They received the power to check and block gambling websites but chose not to block sites they recognized,” he noted.
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The police are currently expanding their investigation and visited the location transformed into an office by the suspects. “Some individuals are still on the run,” he added.
(Firyal Trinidad)
