Fleeing the Philippines and Cambodia for Bali: Indonesian Prosecutors Seek Five Years for Online Gambling Team’s Customer-Service Worker

File photo: Sanur Beach in Bali, Indonesia, photographed on 17 February 2025. Geographic context only for the prosecution report; this is not the alleged gambling premises, a police operation or the court hearing, and no person shown is identified as a defendant. Photo: Aspere / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Original image unchanged. Image source; CC0 1.0.

Indonesia’s Denpasar District Court held a hearing in a cross-border online gambling case on October 22, with prosecutors seeking a five-year prison sentence for defendant Wildan Aflah Al Barroh, 31. According to an earlier investigation by Bali police, the team initially worked in online gambling in the Philippines, moved to Cambodia after its premises were raided by local police, and fled back to Indonesia after its Cambodian base was raided in January 2026. It resumed operations in Bali until the arrests in April.

The Prosecution’s Sentencing Request

According to local outlet NusaBali, prosecutor Putu Rizky Sitraputra told the court that Wildan had committed the offence of providing or offering opportunities to gamble without a licence and making a livelihood from it or participating in a gambling enterprise, in violation of Article 426(1)(a) of Law No. 1 of 2023, Indonesia’s new Criminal Code. The prosecutor also cited Law No. 1 of 2026 on the Adjustment of Penalties. Judge Putu Gde Novyartha is presiding over the case.

Prosecutors had previously sought three-year sentences for each of three female defendants prosecuted separately in the same case, Indri Jeanefer Tulus, Mikha Gabriela Barahama and Ramona Friska Tulus, under the same provision. The court has not yet delivered its verdict.

The Case

At an April 29 press conference, the Bali Regional Police’s Cybercrime Investigation Directorate (Ditressiber Polda Bali) said police had identified two active online gambling sites, “Ketua” and “GN77”, through online patrols and undercover inquiries. On the afternoon of April 12, officers raided a rented house in Benoa, South Kuta, Badung Regency, at No. 3, Gang Hasan, Jalan Pratama, arresting four people and seizing four laptops and five mobile phones. The case was registered on the basis of two police reports dated April 13, LP/A/04/IV/2026 and LP/A/05/IV/2026.

According to police and prosecutors, the team had a clear division of responsibilities:

• Three young women from Manado, North Sulawesi, handled telemarketing. Each day, they contacted 300 to 400 Indonesian phone numbers through WhatsApp, sent links to download gambling applications, and used first-deposit bonuses to encourage recipients to deposit funds through virtual accounts at several state-owned banks;
• Wildan, who is from Jakarta, replied to players’ messages through the sites’ online customer-service chat windows.

Prosecutors disclosed the pay in court: Wildan received IDR8 million a month; Indri received IDR11.4 million a month plus an IDR8 million bonus; and Ramona and Mikha received IDR2.5 million each.

Police said the Ketua site was suspected of being controlled by a Chinese citizen in Cambodia identified by the initials PNJ, while GN77 was suspected of being controlled by a man in Kalimantan identified as CND. Neither has been apprehended.

A Route of Relocation

The most notable aspect of the case is the team’s route of relocation. According to prosecutors, the defendants worked in online gambling in the Philippines in 2024 and moved to Cambodia after their base was raided by local law enforcement. After their Cambodian premises were raided in January 2026, they arrived in Bali on January 21, initially working from a hotel in Benoa before renting a house as their base around two weeks later. At the April press conference, Bali police chief Aszhari Kurniawan said: “They are people who fled online gambling operations in Cambodia and came to Bali to continue doing it in a different place.”

That route aligns with the pattern of regional enforcement: the Philippines began a comprehensive crackdown on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in 2024, while Cambodia has also intensified its crackdown on online gambling and scam compounds this year. After being forced out, workers returned to their home country to continue operating, still targeting Indonesian players.

Discrepancies Between the Accounts

• Wildan’s role: NusaBali described him as “suspected of being one of the leaders of an international online gambling network”, but the police announcement and prosecutors’ statements described his duties as online customer service, with other people controlling the sites. This article follows the description of his duties provided by police and prosecutors.
• Who worked in the Philippines and Cambodia: In April, police said that, of the four, only Indri and Wildan were “experienced hands” who had worked in the Philippines and Cambodia. In court, however, prosecutors said “the defendants” all had that experience, while also saying that Ramona and Mikha were Indri’s biological sisters and had joined later from Jakarta.
• Student status: Antara news agency reported that the three women were university students; Tribun Bali wrote that all four were still students.
• Maximum sentence: In April, police said the provision carried a maximum sentence of nine years; prosecutors are seeking five years.

Sources

• NusaBali, October 22, 2026: Prosecutors Seek Five Years for Figure in International Online Gambling Network
• Antara news agency, Bali bureau, April 29, 2026: Bali Police Uncover International Online Gambling Network Involving University Students
• Tribun Bali, April 29, 2026: Flight of Cambodia Online Gambling Operators Ends in Benoa
• Kompas, April 30, 2026: Fleeing Cambodia, Four Operators of International Online Gambling Network Arrested in Bali
• Bali police announcement republished on the Denpasar police website: Bali Police Cybercrime Directorate Takes Action