Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesia’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) has uncovered that hundreds of thousands of social assistance (bansos) recipients were involved in online gambling activities, raising concerns over the misuse of government welfare funds.
According to Natsir Kongah, Head of Public Affairs at PPATK, the agency cross-checked 28.4 million national identification numbers (NIK) of welfare recipients with 9.7 million NIKs tied to online gamblers in 2025. The result, 571,410 matches, meaning roughly 2% of welfare recipients were also online gambling participants.
“A rapid data test revealed 571,410 matching NIKs between social assistance beneficiaries and online gambling users,” Natsir told on Monday (July 7).
PPATK further reported that these individuals made more than 7.5 million gambling transactions using their bank accounts, with total deposits reaching Rp957 billion (approximately US$59 million).
The findings suggest that a significant portion of government-disbursed welfare funds may have been misappropriated for illegal activities rather than used to meet basic needs.
“This points to a clear indication that some recipients of government aid are using those funds to engage in online gambling,” Natsir said. He added that this issue goes beyond administrative errors and reflects a deeper misuse of the state welfare system for illegal purposes.
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In response to the report by Indonesia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (PPATK) linking hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients to online gambling, Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, said the findings will be used to evaluate future disbursements of social assistance.
“This is part of the government’s efforts, especially the Ministry of Social Affairs to follow through on the president’s directive to ensure welfare aid reaches the right recipients,” Saifullah stated.
The minister emphasized that the public is encouraged to report suspected misuse of welfare funds through official channels, including a dedicated app and call center. These reports allow the ministry to conduct field checks, verify information, and validate data.
Saifullah also noted that field officers, known as “assistants,” may be held accountable if aid recipients under their supervision are found to be engaging in illegal gambling. He added that this accountability could impact the future of the assistants’ contracts.
He further revealed that the ministry had received information from PPATK about several aid recipients holding unusually high balances in their bank accounts, ranging from Rp1 million to Rp2 million.
“This needs further investigation, because typically, welfare assistance is used immediately for essential needs,” he explained. “The key here is education first, but if the violations are serious, the recipients’ eligibility for aid will be reviewed.”
(Raidi/Agung)
