Tim Alper iGaming Journalist
Tim Alper is a journalist covering betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats, with a focus on regulatory developments and international markets. He reports on breaking stories across Europe and Asia, including gambling law changes and...
Read Full BioConfiscated online casino funds will replenish the Indonesian state’s budget to the tune of $31.3 million, officials in West Jakarta have said.
A spokesperson for the West Jakarta District Attorney’s Office showcased a huge pile of cash, 530.4 billion rupiah, at a press conference. The cash was all denominated in 100,000 rupiah banknotes, the Indonesian media outlet Buka Mata reported.
Ten thousand rupiah is currently worth around $7.
However, critics told the media outlet that despite the “fantastic” haul of cash, the public is upset that the mastermind behind the crimes received lenient treatment at the hands of the Indonesian judiciary.
Confiscated Online Casino Funds: Public Unhappy With Sentence
The West Jakarta District Court found Oei Hengky Wiryo guilty of laundering the cash from online casino platforms. But while other online casino operators and money launderers have faced longer prison terms, the court handed Wiryo a two-year jail sentence.
A panel of judges also ordered the mastermind to pay a fine of IRP 1 billion ($59,000). An official told the media outlet that the West Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office was “committed to optimizing the return of state assets” from criminal operators.
Meanwhile, police in the Riau Islands Province said they have raided multiple addresses as part of an operation targeting online casino platforms. The Riau Islands police chief, Inspector-General Asep Safrudin, said the operators posed as livestreamers to throw investigators off their trail.
Police said they made arrests in the city of Batam City, the province’s Special Criminal Investigation Directorate said, per the Indonesian media outlet Batam Info.
A spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing, with detectives still “actively gathering information.”
Slots Operator Disguised Casino App as Livestream Platform
Police said their raids took place on the evening of March 12. Officials said the operation’s turnover figures were “in the trillions” of rupiah.
“Gambling operators are now using an increasingly diverse range of methods,” an official said.
Police said the operators directed would-be gamblers to a Google Play store-hosted smartphone app. Nothing about the app gave the impression that it was gambling-related, officers said.
However, after players downloaded the app, the operators made them submit their ID numbers and cell phone numbers. After this, players could allegedly make cash deposits and withdrawals and play slots and roulette.
The operators reportedly temporarily removed the app from the store periodically. This helped them cut the chances of being caught, the spokesperson said.
The same operators also ran livestreams on various platforms. They used these streams to promote the app and reportedly give would-be players instructions on how to access it.
Earlier this month, police in Jakarta said they had cracked down on 132 online casino sites. Officers explained they had also “temporarily frozen” at least 255.75 billion rupiah ($15.2 million) worth of transactions during their operations.
