Jakarta. The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) revealed on Thursday a significant surge in suspicious transactions leading up to the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections.

Ivan Yustiavandana, the Head of PPATK, told reporters in Jakarta that these detected dubious transactions involved substantial sums in the trillions of rupiah and implicated thousands of individuals associated with "various political affiliates".

"PPATK has identified a substantial surge in suspicious transactions preceding the elections, marking an over 100 percent increase in the cash value," Ivan said.

Nevertheless, Ivan noted that transactions conducted through officially registered political campaign accounts remained relatively flat without providing specific details.

"We have observed irregularities that signal potential illicit payments," Ivan added.

The anti-money laundering agency has formally notified both the General Election Commission (KPU) and the Election Oversight Body (Bawaslu) about these findings.

"We are awaiting their response. This pertains to substantial sums of money and involves thousands of individuals across multiple political parties," he said.

Shifting focus, Ivan said PPATK had frozen nearly 750 bank accounts associated with transactions totaling Rp 850 billion ($54.9 million) linked to online gambling websites between early 2022 and September 2023.

According to PPATK data, transactions related to online gambling amounted to Rp 57 trillion ($3.7 billion) in 2021 and surged to Rp 69 trillion the following year before the government's crackdown on gambling websites.

All forms of gambling are considered criminal offenses under the Indonesian legal system.

Moreover, the agency uncovered transactions involving fictitious investment companies amounting to Rp 35 trillion in the previous year.

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