The gambling operations, which have steadily increased in Indonesia, were discovered during routine monitoring, Sutarman said.

Sutarman acknowledged that gambling activities had changed from conventional operations like togel (illegal lottery) to Internet sites using the latest state-of-the-art technology. '€œAll the gambling accounts were blocked and we are continuing to investigate. Of the total, 96 accounts were fictitious with some using fake addresses, while the remainder are unknown,'€ Sutarman said as quoted by kompas.com.

He made the remarks during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs in Jakarta on Wednesday. He explained that the National Police had set up a special team to combat cybercrime. The team first traces sites offering online gambling. If there is a strong indication that a site is offering gambling services, the police immediately block it.

Sutarman said that any money tied to the blocked accounts would be confiscated during court trials, based on Article 3 of the Criminal Code on money laundering. '€œWe will keep investigating [...] and any funds proved in court to be linked to money-laundering will be confiscated for the state,'€ he said.

Separately, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has blocked 119 accounts held at four banks, whose funds have been linked to fraudulent and online gambling activities.

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