Online Gambling Syndicate of 35 Indian Nationals in Bali Controlled from Dubai

The first hearing for 35 Indian nationals in an alleged international online gambling network at the Denpasar District Court has lifted the lid on a large-scale operation controlled across borders. From two villas in Bali, they are said to have run an online gambling business connected as far as Dubai. Public Prosecutor Ni Made N Lumisensi revealed that the defendants were not merely employees, but were directly involved in the systematic operation of online gambling with a neat division of tasks. “The defendants are alleged to have jointly offered the public the opportunity to play online gambling and made it their livelihood,” Lumisensi said while reading the indictment on Tuesday. The case came to light from a cyber patrol by the Bali Police’s Cyber Crime Directorate in early February 2026. Police discovered the Instagram account @ekdant_book promoting online gambling sites with an Indian contact number. The digital trail then led to a villa in Tibubeneng village, North Kuta, Badung. A raid was conducted on 3 February 2026 at around 11:00 WITA. Police detained 17 Indian nationals who were running the online gambling site operations from the location. Investigations revealed the defendants had different roles, including managing deposits, withdrawing funds, and promoting the sites via social media. One name mentioned in the indictment is Piyush Sharma, who acted as the operational coordinator, arranging work equipment from laptops and mobile phones to internet networks and task distribution for the operators. Further investigation led officers to another villa in Cepaka village, Kediri district, Tabanan, where police detained an additional 18 Indian nationals suspected of running a similar operational pattern. Prosecutors stated that at least seven online gambling sites were managed by the network. Transactions were conducted in Indian rupees, with deposit values ranging from 100 to 50,000 rupees. Player balances were then converted into coins for placing bets on various games including football, cricket, horse racing, live casino, poker, three card, and slot machines. Making the case more striking, the network was said to be controlled by a company based in Dubai. The defendants were recruited from India and then placed in Bali to run daily operations. In return, they received salaries of around Rp5 million to Rp8 million per month, transferred directly from the company’s headquarters. The defendants claimed they took the jobs because they had no permanent employment in their home country. However, they did not possess permits from the Indonesian government to conduct such gambling activities. For their actions, the defendants are charged under Article 426 paragraph (1) letter a of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code in conjunction with Law Number 1 of 2026 concerning Criminal Adjustments. As an alternative charge, the prosecutor also applied Article 426 paragraph (1) letter b of the same provisions.