JAKARTA - The Regional Office of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) of North Sumatra Province (North Sumatra) highlighted the rise of illegal financial activities in the province, one of which was online gambling which recorded a deposit value of IDR 1.7 trillion.
Head of the North Sumatra OJK Regional Office, Khoirul Muttaqien, said the figure was based on data from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) in early 2025.
"The players (there are) 460 thousand people, the biggest is (of) students and students," said Alam Medan Sharia Investor City (MAIN STORY) 2025 in Medan, North Sumatra, quoted by Antara, Saturday, November 22.
He said that although the number of players was dominated by students, the highest deposit value came from private employees.
Not only private employees, he also stated that there were around a thousand state civil servants (ASN) in North Sumatra who were involved in online gambling.
It also faces serious challenges related to other illegal financial entities, including illegal pawns.
His party noted that the province has the largest number of illegal pawns compared to other regions outside Java.
He said that currently there are only 27 pawn businesses that have official permits from the OJK in the area, while the rest will continue to be brought under control.
Regarding illegal online loans (pinjol), OJK has received 15 thousand complaints nationally since the beginning of this year, with 573 complaints from North Sumatra.
In addition, there are 176 reports from the people of North Sumatra regarding illegal investment activities out of a total of 3,786 complaints nationally.
Responding to the rise of illegal investment offers, Khoirul appealed to the public to always apply the "2L" principle before the transaction, namely Legal and Logis.
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"Check him (the investment institution) is legal not to contact the OJK 157. And the second is logical, how come you dare to convey a fixed return (fixed yield) of a percentage exceeding the fair value," he said.
He also reminded the public to maintain the confidentiality of personal data and not to arbitrarily lend or sell bank accounts to other parties, which are often misused for illegal activities.
To avoid losses due to illegal investment, he asked the public to switch to financial instruments to have clear legality, one of which is the Islamic capital market.
"Be careful in investing. Keep the spirit of investing, remember legal and logical principles. Always understand what we invest in," said Khoirul.
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