TEMPO.CO., Jakarta – The Directorate of Cyber Crime of the Indonesian Police has successfully dismantled an online gambling syndicate controlled by Chinese foreign nationals. The Slot 8278 website, which has been operational since September 2022, served as the platform for this illicit gambling operation.
“On October 1, 2024, the Cyber Crime Directorate successfully disrupted the online gambling activities conducted on the Slot 8278 website, a gambling site controlled by Chinese nationals with its server located in China,” said Director of Cyber Crime, Brigadier General Himawan Bayu Aji, at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
In addition to Indonesia, this gambling website targeted other Asian countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. However, Himawan emphasized that the website actively courted the Indonesian market, with 85,000 players.
Furthermore, the police seized cash amounting to Rp6.055 billion and other pieces of evidence, including 17 mobile phones, 3 laptops, 1 iPad, 3 tokens from one bank, 1 token from another bank, and 5 bank accounts that are currently undergoing the process of being blocked.
Himawan also disclosed that 7 individuals have been apprehended in connection with this case. “Seven individuals have been designated as suspects: one foreign national and six Indonesian nationals, each fulfilling distinct roles within the syndicate,” he explained.
The modus operandi employed by the perpetrators, according to Himawan, involved the utilization of payment service providers (PJP) and Indonesian bank accounts for deposit and withdrawal transactions.
Himawan stated that these seven individuals took diverse roles within the syndicate, including a foreign national, QF, serving as the PJP director, RA as the chief PJP director, IMM as a commissioner and legal counsel, and AF as the chief operating officer and business management.
“Other suspects include FH as the financial or payment service management, RAP as the application operator, and HJ as the operator,” he outlined.
These seven suspects will face charges under multiple articles, namely Article 45 paragraph 3 in conjunction with Article 27 paragraph 2 of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the second amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning electronic information and transactions (ITE), the Law on criminal money transfer offenses Article 82 and/or Article 85, the Law on the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering crimes (TPPU), and Article 303 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. “A maximum prison sentence of 20 years,” Himawan concluded.
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