2 New Suspects in Online Gambling Case at Ministry of Communication and Digital Will Be Charged with Multiple Money Laundering Articles

Suspects from Ministry of Communication and Digital employees who were arrested in the online gambling case arrived at Soetta Airport, Sunday November 10, 2024 (Spc)

JAKARTA - Director of Criminal Investigation of Metro Jaya Police Kombes Pol Wira Satya Triputra emphasized that his party will charge two new suspects in the online gambling (judol) case at the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi) with multiple articles. The articles are related to the crime of money laundering (TPPU).

"We are charging this online gambling case with money laundering," he said firmly on Monday, November 11.

Wira said that currently, the two perpetrators are undergoing intensive examination to uncover the online gambling case at Kemenkomdigi. "This step is taken so that later we can open up as clearly as possible the case that we are currently handling," he said.

Previously, Metro Jaya Police arrested two suspects MN and DM. Suspect MN, who was arrested by Metro Jaya Police, is known to have a role as a liaison between the suspects and the bookies related to the online gambling (judol) case at the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi).

Wira explained that with that role, MN can easily determine which online gambling sites can operate and which cannot. From the online gambling dealer, MN, who is the liaison, often disburses fresh funds for the purpose of blocking online gambling sites.

"MN's role is to deposit money and/or submit a list of websites to be guarded so that the website is not blocked," said Wira.

In addition to MN, the police also arrested DM. It is strongly suspected that the two suspects were arrested abroad because they were picked up by investigators at the international arrivals terminal.

Regarding which country the two were arrested from, both Wira and the Head of Public Relations of the Metro Jaya Police, Senior Commissioner Pol Ade Ary Syam Indradi were reluctant to comment further, including MN's identity.

Wira explained that DM was arrested after investigators conducted a development from the arrest of the online gambling dealer's liaison. "Further development was carried out and another suspect with the initials DM was found who was involved in online gambling," he said.

DM's role, according to him, was as a collector of online gambling money. From the arrest of the two suspects, the police managed to secure a number of pieces of evidence, such as Rp300 million in cash and money stored in the suspect's account of Rp2.8 billion.

Wira emphasized that of the two suspects arrested, one of them was a suspect who was on the wanted list (DPO). "Thanks to the hard work of fellow investigators in the field, on November 9, 2024, the team managed to secure one of the DPOs with the initials MN," he said.

The police have not explained in detail the identity and chronology of the arrest of the online gambling suspect involving Kemenkomdigi employees. Currently, the two suspects are undergoing intensive examination at Metro Jaya Police.