Indonesian Courts Already Have Power to ‘Confiscate Money From Online Gambling Operators’

A senior financial regulator states that Indonesian courts already possess all the necessary powers to confiscate funds linked to online gambling.

According to Indonesian media outlets Metro TV News and Hukum Online, the comments were made by Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Chairman of the National Coordinating Committee for the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering (Komite TPPU).

Speaking in Jakarta earlier this week, Yusril stated that money laundering laws effectively enable courts to seize funds from suspected online casino operators.

But the Komite TPPU chief said that these laws have “rarely been implemented optimally.” He said: “It is time for our law enforcement officers to start enforcing these rules strictly. The nation must not be hurt by online gambling operators who seek to destroy our morals and economic stability.”

The official said: “Law enforcers have the right to ask courts to let them confiscate money from online gambling operators.” He added that courts could also confiscate money from illegal sportsbook operators. They can also seize money directly from bettors, Yusril said.

Confiscate Online Gambling Money Now, Regulator Tells Police

Yusril explained that the legal process takes seven days to complete. A government minister called the news a “breakthrough step on the journey to eradicating online gambling.”

The committee chair said the laws were “part of the state’s concrete efforts to uphold the rule of law and eradicate digital financial crime.”

He called on Indonesian law enforcement officers to “use existing legal mechanisms.” He told them to “prosecute offenders and confiscate the proceeds of [gambling-related] crime.”

Yusril added that courts can jail online gambling operators for up to 10 years. The criminal code also allows judges to hand out prison terms of up to three years for anyone caught gambling online.

But the official conceded that many online gambling transactions are difficult to trace. This is because some platform operators utilize crypto wallets and e-pay platforms.

Yusril said that the country’s financial monitoring service, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), can order financial service providers to delay or temporarily halt transactions it thinks may be connected to online gambling.

President: Indonesia Losing $8B Annually to Online Casinos

Speaking at the APEC Summit in South Korea last month, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto claimed that the country is now “suffering annual online gambling-related losses of around $8 billion.”

Earlier, Prabowo also told police officials to make the war on online casinos one of its top three priorities.

Government officials claim that around 70% of Indonesian online casino users are low-income earners. A spokesperson for the political and security ministry also claimed in October that “most” online gamblers are welfare payment recipients.

This year, the PPATK has used an automated transaction detection system to suspend hundreds of thousands of welfare benefits to citizens suspected of gambling online.

Critics of these measures say they are overly punitive. They say that the system inadvertently harms entire households, holding families accountable for the actions of a single individual.