Suspected Money Laundering: Bareskrim Seizes All Gold from Semar Shop in Nganjuk

The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) seized gold bars and gold jewellery from the ‘Semar’ Gold Shop in Payaman Village, Nganjuk District, East Java, on Friday 20 February 2026. The seizure is connected to suspected money laundering (TPPU) linked to unlicensed gold mining operations (PETI).

Previously, the Bareskrim team had simultaneously raided three separate locations in Surabaya and Nganjuk since Thursday. One of the sites searched was the Semar Gold Shop in the Nganjuk area.

Mulyadi, coordinator of the Wage Market in Nganjuk, said he was asked by police to participate as a witness during the search. The team searched the entire contents of the shop, including gold jewellery and the shop’s administrative documents.

“I served as a witness for the search at Semar Shop. What was examined were the goods in the shop, gold jewellery, and books related to the shop’s administrative bookkeeping,” he said in Nganjuk on Friday 21 February 2026.

He added that officers also removed all the jewellery from the shop’s display cases after examining the entire contents of the shop, from the gold jewellery on sale to the administrative books. The gold jewellery is suspected to constitute evidence in the money laundering case linked to unlicensed mining currently under investigation by Bareskrim.

“The goods in the shop, including gold jewellery and books related to administrative bookkeeping, were secured by officers,” he said.

Tracing Back to Illegal Gold Mining

Separately, Director of Special Economic Crimes at Bareskrim, Brigadier General Ade Safri Simanjuntak, said the case was uncovered based on an analytical report from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) regarding suspicious transactions related to the domestic gold trade conducted by gold shops, as well as trading activities by gold refining companies exporting abroad using gold allegedly sourced from unlicensed mining operations.

The case is a development from an illegal gold mining case that has already received a legally binding verdict (inkracht) at the Pontianak District Court. The original offence took place within the jurisdiction of West Kalimantan during the period 2019–2022.

Based on the findings of the investigation into the predicate offence and trial evidence, it was established that proceeds from illegal gold had flowed to several parties.