Police to Investigate Former Minister’s Involvement in Online Gambling Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Jakarta Metro Police are currently investigating the potential involvement of the former Minister of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo), Budi Arie, in an online gambling case that implicated several employees of the ministry, which recently changed its name into the Ministry of Communication and Digital Technology (Komdigi).

“We will investigate this further,” the Director of General Crime Investigation of the Jakarta Metro Police, Commissioner General Wira Satya Triputra said when asked whether Budi Arie would be summoned.

Budi Arie, now serving as Minister of Cooperatives, has expressed his willingness to cooperate with the police and denied any involvement in the case. “I am always ready to be questioned,” he said at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.

The police have confirmed that the online gambling activities began in January 2024, with the suspects initially operating from an office in West Jakarta before relocating to Bekasi. 

A key revelation is the creation of a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Kominfo Ministry which granted authority to one of the suspects, AK, and his accomplices to oversee the blocking of online gambling sites.

The police are investigating whether this SOP was intentionally created to facilitate the protection of online gambling sites. It has been discovered that AK, who did not pass the selection process for technical support staff in 2023, was granted access to the content-blocking system.

Tempo has reached out to Budi Arie, Nezar, and several ministry officials to seek clarification on this matter, but has yet to receive a response.

The Jakarta Metro Police have identified 15 suspects involved in the online gambling case. These individuals, who were tasked with blocking online gambling sites, allegedly protected the sites in exchange for payments from site owners. The suspects demanded a fee of Rp8.5 million per site to prevent their blocking.

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