Police Uncover Gambling and Pornography via App, Name Nine Suspects

The Directorate of General Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, through its General Crime/Jatanras subdivision, has uncovered a transnational criminal network operating the ‘HOT51’ application, a platform providing online gambling services and live-streaming pornography. During the investigation period from January to June 2026, police arrested nine individual suspects from clusters of performers and affiliates, apprehended in several separate locations. “The success of uncovering this case began with the implementation of cyber patrols, which were then followed by an in-depth analysis of ‘follow the money’ or tracing the perpetrators’ financial assets,” said Jakarta Metropolitan Police Director of General Criminal Investigation, Senior Commissioner Iman Imanuddin, during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday. He explained that the suspects were arrested in several different locations, including Ngawi (East Java), Gresik (East Java), North Aceh, and Jakarta. “The nine individual suspects arrested each had strategic roles, namely WS who acted as a host or performer of live-streaming pornography in Ngawi, then BF (West Jakarta) as an agent, RM (Gresik) as a super agent, and OV (North Aceh) as a master agent tasked with recruiting players or hosts and managing commission distribution,” Iman detailed. In addition to the agency and performer cluster, police apprehended the network’s field controllers and local-level financial sector operatives. “Suspect XR (a Chinese national) was arrested in Lumajang for his role as a field controller who ordered the establishment of shell companies, and MPN was arrested in Bantul as the executor of the legality for these fictitious companies,” Iman stated. “Both were named as suspects for failing to carry out Customer Due Diligence (CDD) obligations and neglecting the supervision of virtual account payment systems,” Iman revealed. Meanwhile, one main suspect with the initials XB, a Chinese citizen, has been placed on the Wanted Persons List (DPO). XB is strongly suspected of being the mastermind, funding initiator, and beneficial owner of the syndicate. Iman mentioned that the network’s modus operandi was neatly structured to deceive the national banking system. The perpetrators instructed local residents to establish dozens of fictitious shell companies as money laundering instruments to accommodate gamblers’ deposit funds through virtual account facilities and corporate accounts. The illicit funds were then channelled in a structured manner to pay the agency network, ultimately flowing into the pockets of the foreign mastermind. During the operation, police seized a number of pieces of evidence of fantastic value, including Rp14.96 billion in cash, 33 corporate deeds, and 28 electronic evidence items. Investigators also blocked 118 bank accounts and virtual accounts to prevent capital flight abroad. For their actions, the individual suspects are charged with multiple articles, namely Article 426 of the Criminal Code on gambling with a maximum penalty of 9 years imprisonment, Article 407 of the Criminal Code on pornography with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, and Article 607 of the Criminal Code on money laundering (TPPU) with a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment.