TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has blocked 5,000 bank accounts suspected of being involved in online gambling. The action has been carried out since the end of last year until March 2024.

Chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners Mahendra Siregar highlighted that accounts related to online gambling would remain blocked until there was legal certainty

"If we receive a list of accounts that are suspected to be used or are being used as part of online gambling activities, we immediately block them," said Mahendra after a meeting with President Joko Widodo or Jokowi on Thursday.

Mahendra explained that turnover from online gambling is sometimes done across borders. Meaning, it was circulated outside of the country. “Some bank accounts must be studied and investigated, especially if overbooking occurred,” he said.

On the same occasion, Minister of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo), Budi Arie Setiadi, revealed that the turnover of online gambling money in Indonesia reached Rp327 trillion throughout 2023, based on the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) data.

Budi Arie considers the turnover of online gambling to be massive. The government will create an integrated task force this week to crack down on online gambling. "Mr. President (Jokowi) explained at the start that there were complaints from the public. The citizens are gambling again," Budi Arie remarked.

A number of ministries and institutions such as the police, Ministry of Communication and Informatics, and OJK will be involved in the task force. The task force will possibly be headed by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Hadi Tjahjanto.

In cracking down on online gambling, Kominfo has cut off access and taken down related content. Preventive action is taken by analyzing the latest modes of online gambling dissemination, including the insertion of site links and online gambling content into government sites.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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