Tim Alper is a journalist who covers betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats. He joined the CasinoBeats team in May 2025. He reports on breaking news and developments in the world of betting, casinos, and...
Read Full BioThe Indonesian prison service has begun checking prison guards’ cell phones to ensure they are not gambling on online casino platforms.
In an official release, the Directorate General of Corrections (Ditjenpas) wrote that prison chiefs in the country are now conducting unannounced spot checks on guards during morning roll calls.
Jambi Prison Chief Batara Hutasoit said that he would carry out cellphone inspections “periodically and continuously.”
Batara said Jambi Prison was committed to “maintaining credibility and ensuring that all staff act as integrity role models for the correctional sector.”
Ditjenpas said that prison heads will check each guard’s phone “one by one to look for apps, transaction history, or web activity related to online gambling.”
A senior guard at Jambi Prison told Ditjenpas’ media service that she welcomed the examinations, adding that it would help “maintain the prison’s reputation.”
Indonesian Prison Service: Regular Gambling Spot Checks
Last week, the Head of the South Sulawesi Directorate General of Corrections Regional Office, Rudy Fernando Sianturi, conducted a “surprise inspection of employees’ cell phones” to “ensure they were free from online gambling apps.”
In an Instagram post, the Ditjenpas’ South Sulawesi Regional Office wrote that the regional chief found no evidence of online gambling apps on its staff’s phones.
He explained: “Online gambling not only violates our code of rules, but also damages mental health and careers. We must be role models.”
Prison chiefs also conducted a similar unannounced check at the Singkil Detention Center in Aceh Province late last month.
The center said: “The results of the inspection were positive. We found no evidence of online gambling applications or gambling-related activities on our employees’ mobile devices.”
Duo Learned to Code to Build Online Casino Sites
Last month, police in West Jakarta announced the arrest of two vocational school graduates. The duo taught themselves to code so they could develop online casino websites, officers claimed.
The Indonesian media outlet Kompas reported that the West Jakarta Metro Police Chief believes the duo built platforms for the online casinos Harta77, Mwin, Jiwa4D, Gudangtoto, Mega88, and Ares77.
The unnamed duo accrued “hundreds of millions of rupiah” in just three months by working as contractors for illegal gambling operators, police claimed.
Officers also claimed that the duo conspired to create rigged games that players could not win.
Police stated that the duo assisted in advertising the sites. They helped operators by sending chat messages to random Indonesian accounts on the Telegram chat app.
Officers believe the duo also assisted site operators in evading detection by relocating platforms to new web domains.
Their combined revenues reached the IDR 100 million ($6,000) mark, police said. Officers said the duo has admitted to the charges.
Last month, officials in North Sumatra province launched a probe into a report claiming that nine civil servants and government contractors placed bets on online betting platforms.
