TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) declined to comment on the alleged involvement of Budi Arie Setiadi in supporting online gambling sites during his tenure as Minister of Communication and Information Technology.
Budi Arie, a close associate of Jokowi and founder of the Pro-Jokowi volunteer group (Projo) ahead of the 2014 presidential election, has been named in an indictment related to the case.
When asked by reporters after undergoing questioning regarding allegations of his fake diploma at the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Jokowi responded, "No, related to this issue only."
Jokowi attended Bareskrim to undergo questioning regarding a report of his alleged fake diploma submitted by the Defenders of Ulama and Activists (TPUA).
The former Mayor of Solo also brought his bachelor's degree certificate, which had been examined by the forensics laboratory at Bareskrim.
The alleged involvement of Budi Arie in the case of Ministry of Communication and staff protecting online gambling sites was revealed in the trial indictment against Zulkarnaen Apriliantony, Adhi Kismanto, Alwin Jabarti Kiemas, and Muhrijan alias Agus in the case of bribery to unblock online gambling sites by Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (now Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs).
Prosecutors accused the four, along with other individuals, of intentionally and unlawfully distributing, transmitting, and/or making accessible electronic information and/or documents containing gambling content.
They were alleged to have received a payment of Rp15.3 billion in return for unblocking several online gambling sites that should have been blocked by Ministry of Communication and Information Tec.
In the indictment letter number PDM-32/JKTSL/Eku.2/02/2025, the role of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology at that time, Budi Arie Setiadi, was revealed.
Around October 2023, Zulkarnaen Apriliantony was asked by Budi Arie to find someone who could gather data on online gambling sites. Apriliantony then introduced Budi Arie to Adhi Kismanto. In that meeting, Adhi presented a crawling tool capable of gathering data on online gambling sites.
Budi Arie offered Adhi to participate in the selection process as an expert at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
In the selection process, Adhi Kismanto was declared unsuccessful because he did not have a bachelor's degree. However, due to 'attention' from Budi Arie, Adhi was still accepted to work at the Ministry of Communication and Informarics.
Adhi was tasked with finding links or online gambling sites, which were then reported to the Head of the Take Down Team, Riko Rasota Rahmada, for blocking.
In January 2024, many online gambling sites coordinated by Alwin Jabarti Kiemas and Denden were blocked. Denden stated that there was a team from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, namely Adhi Kismanto, conducting independent patrols. As a result, Alwin Jabarti refused to provide guard money but only provided coordination funds of Rp280 million to Denden.
Around early 2024, Muhrijan alias Agus, who claimed to be an envoy of the Director of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, found out about the practice of safeguarding online gambling sites from not being blocked after hearing his brother, Muchlis Nasution, coordinating through the phone with Denden.
Muhrijan met Denden and stated that he knew about guarding gambling sites and threatened to report it to the Minister of Communication and Information Technology. Muhrijan demanded Rp1.5 billion.
In March 2024, Muhrijan contacted Denden again to be introduced to Adhi Kismanto. During the meeting at the Pergrams cafe in Senopati, South Jakarta, Muhrijan told Adhi that the guarding of online gambling sites should continue because there was someone at Ministry of Communication and Information Technology who wanted it.
He offered a 20 percent commission to Adhi. Muhrijan also provided a fee of Rp3 million per guarded online gambling site to Apriliantony.
Muhrijan and Apriliantony met again at the Pergrams cafe to discuss the guarding of online gambling sites at Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and a fee of Rp8 million per site. They also discussed the distribution for Adhi Kismanto at 20 percent, Apriliantony at 30 percent, and Budi Arie Setiadi at 50 percent of all online gambling sites that were not blocked.
Tempo contacted Budi Arie to confirm this indictment and the allocation of 50 percent for him from the safeguarding of online gambling sites. However, Budi Arie only responded with two smiling emojis.
Jihan Ristiyanti contributed to the writing of this article.
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