Bogus Companies Used as a Front for 21 Indonesian Gambling Platforms

A group of Indonesian criminals used a network of fake companies to launder betting money from dozens of online gambling sites, police have claimed.

Officers from the Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim Polri) stated that they discovered the bogus store as part of an investigation into 21 illegal online casinos, according to the Indonesian media outlet IMC News.

Police named the sites in question as Spinharta4, Sasafun, ri188, st789, slo-ldr, e88vip, 1777, x88vip, 53n, bmw312, svip5u, OK Game, e88vip, remi101n, idagame, H5.hiwiniwue, h5 ss880, officesetup, 777pro, 777n, and rr777aa.

“These websites offered their customers a variety of games, including casino slots and soccer betting,” a Bareskrim Polri official said at a press conference.

Indonesian Gambling Crackdown Continues

The official said that the gambling sites courted both domestic and international patrons. Police said they went undercover to discover more details about the site, posing as gambling site users to discover the mechanisms of the crimes.

Officers said their investigations traced the flow of funds to 11 payment service providers. The investigation continued, uncovering 17 “fictitious companies.” Criminals created these companies in an attempt to “facilitate online gambling transactions,” said police.

Police said the gang used 15 of the companies to process gamblers’ payments or deposits via the QRIS payment system. QRIS, short for Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard, is Indonesia’s national QR code-powered payment system.

The central bank launched QRIS in 2019 to facilitate digital payments in the country.

The gang used the remaining two firms to launder the illicit funds, Bareskrim Polri officials said.

Officers said they made five arrests, with the suspects ranging in age from 29 to 45 years. Bareskrim Polri said they had frozen and confiscated funds totaling over $3.5 million.

Police said two of the suspects used fake documents to create the bogus companies and falsify company accounts.

Leading Cause of Divorce

One of the suspects was charged with “collaborating with foreign merchants operating in the online gambling sector.”

A spokesperson said at least one suspect remains at large, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

“The criminal investigation will not stop here,” a senior cyberpolice official said. “We are still investigating the involvement of other parties. We are especially keen to find people who facilitated the creation of the fictitious company documents used to facilitate online gambling.”

All forms of gambling are illegal in Indonesia. In 2023, police and government agencies launched a crackdown on online casinos.

Civil law courts say online gambling is now a leading cause of divorce in the country.