newly formed government task force responsible for curtailing online gambling has ramped up efforts to eradicate the practice by freezing bank accounts and payment services allegedly used for betting as it investigates the cases.
The task force, established last week, includes representatives from the National Police and the Communications and Information Ministry, among other state institutions.
At a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahjanto, who is leading the task force, said the police would investigate whether some 5,000 bank accounts were linked to online gambling.
The accounts were recently frozen by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) on suspicion of being used by bookies or syndicates organizing gambling operations.
Hadi said his team had found indications that the groups had lured people, mostly living in villages, into opening new bank accounts and selling them to bookies for use in online gambling transactions. Hadi called on the holders of the frozen accounts to clarify what they were being used for.
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The task force, Hadi said, had also found indications that people could make payments or deposit funds for online gambling at mini-marts.