West Java Civil Servants Recorded in Online Gambling Transactions Totalling Rp800 Million in a Year
Bandung, VIVA – The Deputy Governor of West Java, Erwan Setiawan, has expressed shock and concern over findings related to the involvement of civil servants (ASN) within the West Java Provincial Government in online gambling activities, with transactions reaching up to Rp 800 million over one year.
According to Erwan, data disclosed by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has triggered profound concern within the West Java Provincial Government. The total value of illegal transactions involving state employees at both provincial and regency/city levels has now reached tens of billions of rupiah annually and continues to rise.
“I have received complete data based on names and addresses. There are even civil servants whose transaction values reached hundreds of millions of rupiah, up to approximately Rp 800 million in a year. This is certainly very concerning,” Erwan stated in Bandung on Tuesday.
Erwan explained that with the largest population in Indonesia, reaching approximately 51 million people, West Java is currently facing a crucial social issue. He noted that the practices of online gambling and online loans (pinjol) are no longer just targeting low-income communities but have massively spread to officials, members of the TNI (National Armed Forces), Polri (National Police), and civil servants.
Despite possessing detailed ‘by name, by address’ data, Erwan emphasised that the West Java Provincial Government has chosen to keep the identities of these civil servants confidential. Disciplinary enforcement will be led by the Inspectorate through a gradual internal coaching mechanism to create a deterrent effect.
“We will request that coaching be conducted gradually, summoning the civil servants involved, heads of regional apparatus, and even regional heads to strengthen supervision. We must ensure that cases like this do not continue to increase every year,” said Erwan.
Furthermore, the West Java Provincial Government has also requested intervention and input from the Indonesian Ombudsman to rectify other public service complications, including evaluating the implementation of the New Student Admission Selection (SPMB) to ensure patterns of maladministration do not recur in the coming years.
Responding to the phenomenon, Indonesian Ombudsman member Maneger Nasution noted that the involvement of state apparatus in the vicious cycle of gambling and online loans has tarnished public ethics and has the potential to trigger maladministration in public services.