Indonesia froze 28,000 bank accounts allegedly linked to online gambling in 2024
Authorities said many of the accounts were part of a scheme for buying and selling bank accounts.
Indonesia.- The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) has announced that more than 28,000 bank accounts in Indonesia were frozen by police in 2024 due to alleged links with online gambling. Director Ivan Yustiavandana said many were part of a scheme involving the buying and selling of accounts.
He said the accounts, some of which had previously been dormant, were frequently used to deposit funds for illegal gambling as well as to launder money from other criminal activities, such as fraud and drug trafficking.
He said: “In accordance with our authority under Law No. 8 of 2010, PPATK has carried out temporary suspensions of customer transactions involving accounts classified as dormant, based on banking data.”
Some have complained about the freezes. Yustiavandana insisted that customers whose accounts were suspended still own their funds and can reactivate their accounts by contacting their banks.
A week ago, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic body, strongly criticised a proposal to legalise casinos as a means to boost state revenue. Cholil Nafis, leader of the council’s Da’wah and Brotherhood division, said the proposal went against social norms.
The legalisation of casinos was proposed by Galih Kartasasmita, a Golkar Party member of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), during a meeting with the Ministry of Finance’s budget office on May 12. Kartasasmita suggested that Indonesia could follow the United Arab Emirates’ model and establish casinos to generate additional non-tax revenue. He compared the economies of the countries, noting that both depend on natural resources to finance government spending.
