Police Unload SBOTOP Football Gambling Site Controlled From The Philippines

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo (Photo: DOK VOI/Special)

JAKARTA - The Anti-Mafia Ball Task Force dismantled the practice of online soccer gambling under the name SBOTOP which is managed from the Philippines. There are tens of thousands of accounts registered as members of the gambling site. "The server is thought to have originated from the Philippines and was attended by 43 thousand members, spread across various countries and Indonesia," said National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to reporters, Wednesday, December 13. The SBOTOP soccer gambling site can be accessed through the platform www.bikinplay.com and wwwsepaktop.com. Then, from the disclosure, four people were named suspects. They have the initials S, DR, L, and TRR. Sigit emphasized that the Anti-Mafia Ball Task Force has collaborated with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to trace the flow of money from the online gambling proceeds. This is because it is suspected that there was financing to one of the clubs from the gambling proceeds. "To trace, block, and carry out tracing with the circulation of money," he said. In addition, the Head of the Anti-Mafia Ball Task Force, Inspector General Asep Edi Suheri, said that the mode used by the suspects was by embedding Indonesian bank accounts and payment gateways to receive money. Then, the players will be asked to put a deposit and become members to be able to take part in the online gambling. Based on the results of the investigation, there were Rp481 billion of money obtained from the gambling site. The money was obtained from operations from January-November 2023. "With details of Rp400 billion, it comes from interbank transactions and Rp81 billion from payment gateways," he said. In addition, based on investigations, the gambling site does not hold a national football league betting market. But also the international league. "Investigators are currently pursuing the suspect TRR, and two Chinese nationals with the initials UTA and NIK who are actively communicating with the suspects Ldi Singapore and Thailand," said Kasatgas.

In this case, the four suspects were charged with Article 303 of the Criminal Code and/or Article 45 paragraph (2) jucnto 27 paragraph (2) of Law – Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning amendments to Law – Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning information and electronic transactions.