Police Find Numerous Online Gambling Accounts, Send Message to Banks
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Indonesian Police’s Criminal Investigation Directorate (Bareskrim) has asked the banking industry to strengthen supervision of account openings to prevent abuse of the financial system for online gambling activities.
Himawan Bayu Aji, Director of Cyber Crime at Bareskrim, stressed that cooperation between law enforcement and the banking sector is crucial, particularly in preventive functions in the digital space.
‘We emphasise that cooperation with the banking sector is very important, especially in preventive roles,’ he said at a press conference on the handover of responsibility and execution of assets arising from money laundering related to online gambling, at Bareskrim Polri, Jakarta, on Thursday (5 February 2026).
Banks are urged to tighten account-opening procedures by applying strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) measures comprehensively, and to ensure no accounts are used to facilitate online gambling. Banks should also have early-detection systems to identify suspicious activity from the outset.
Banks are expected to have early-warning systems to close off avenues for perpetrators attempting to abuse the financial system.
Additionally, Himawan noted that he and the banking sector have agreed on a new mechanism to speed up the examination of accounts suspected of online gambling activity. He said the agreement allows examinations of accounts used by perpetrators to be conducted centrally at the bank’s head office.
He described the agreement as a positive synergy between law enforcement and the financial sector to accelerate handling of online gambling cases.
Furthermore, Himawan highlighted the successful asset seizures carried out by authorities as evidence of strong cross-ministerial and agency cooperation in the fight against online gambling. ‘The success of asset seizure today is strong proof of the synergy among ministries and agencies. This synergy ensures that the legal process against acts of online gambling remains our shared concern,’ he concluded.