Indonesian Minister Denies Ties to Online Gambling Kickbacks: “A Malicious Lie”
Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives, Budi Arie Setiadi, has firmly denied allegations that he received kickbacks in exchange for allowing online gambling websites to remain unblocked during his previous tenure as Communications Minister. Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives, Budi Arie Setiadi. Source: Kemenkop JAKARTA — Speaking to reporters on Monday, Budi Arie dismissed the claims as “a malicious narrative” aimed at damaging his reputation. “It’s completely false. This is a deliberate smear campaign targeting my personal integrity,” he said. The allegations, which surfaced in a prosecutor’s indictment read before the South Jakarta District Court on May 14, suggest that Budi Arie received 50% of bribes funneled through a network of officials within the Ministry of Communication and Informatics—now renamed the Ministry of Communication and Digital. The former minister stressed that he had no knowledge of such arrangements and denied any involvement in the scheme. “That 50% claim was a...