Why the Rp58.1 Billion Online Gambling Account Owner Was Not Arrested
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Cyber Crime Directorate of the Indonesian National Police (Bareskrim) explained why there were no suspects in the asset seizure related to online gambling activities amounting to around Rp58.1 billion.
The process was conducted under the mechanism of Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) No. 1 of 2013, which focuses on determining asset status, rather than identifying perpetrators.
Himawan Bayu Aji, Director of Cyber Crime at Bareskrim, said this mechanism indeed allows the state to seize assets suspected of involving crime without naming a suspect.
‘This PERMA 1/2013 mechanism has no suspect, but ensures the wealth and operational assets for a court’s final ruling,’ he said at a press conference at Bareskrim on Thursday (5/3/2026).
He explained that the absence of a suspect in this case is due to the accounts used in online gambling transactions not belonging directly to the perpetrator, but using other parties or nominees.
‘There is really no suspect because these are nominee accounts used, which are not used directly by the gambler, but are nominees,’ he said.
Himawan explained that the analysis of transactions conducted by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) found layered or ‘onion’ style transactions in the funds flow believed to originate from online gambling activity. From these findings, investigators then acted against several accounts that were suspected places of funds storage.
‘Thus, from PPATK’s transaction analysis, it indicates or depicts transactions from several layering revenues that we took action against those accounts,’ he explained.
In the crackdown on online gambling, Bareskrim applies three main enforcement strategies. The strategies target perpetrators, operational means, and the funds that support the illegal activities.
‘So for effectiveness, we implement three steps as our targets. First is the person, the online gambling perpetrators, whether operators or bettors,’ said Himawan.
‘Second are the tools used to market, to transact and so on. Including the third is the operational side of the gambling organisation, which is the finances,’ he added.
He noted that the legal proceedings for the assets have been ongoing since 2025 and are now entering the initial stage of designation by the courts.
‘This period, we have been working for some time, because the process to court for final enforcement began in 2025,’ he said.
In this initial stage, the assets being processed are valued at around Rp58 billion. However, Himawan said there are still other funds that are still in process.
‘This is the first step or the first episode from earlier information from PPATK, the temporary halt that we did not proceed with is around Rp255 billion. This is only Rp58 billion now, and there will be more; it is still in process, around Rp97 billion more,’ he added.
He ensured that further developments regarding asset enforcement would be communicated to the public as the legal process proceeds further.