Indonesian police have arrested over 100 Taiwanese individuals at a villa in Bali on charges of alleged cyber fraud, authorities announced.
Bali immigration authorities stated on Friday that they raided the villa in Tabanan Regency on Wednesday after receiving a tip-off from Indonesian police.
The raid uncovered a group of 12 women and 91 men, along with hundreds of mobile phones and other electronic devices. These individuals were accused of abusing immigration permits and conducting online scams targeting Malaysians, according to Indonesian immigration official Safar Muhammad Godam.
Godam explained that officials could not press charges as the alleged crimes occurred outside their jurisdiction, but they are “closely working together” with relevant authorities, including those in Malaysia.
“Their activities target individuals outside the country, making it very difficult to meet the elements of a criminal offence in such cases,” Godam said during a press conference. “They are subject to administrative immigration actions. In the near future, we will proceed with deporting all of the 103 foreign nationals.“
The detainees are currently held at an immigration detention center in Bali for further questioning.
The rise of cyber fraud groups in Southeast Asia has become a growing concern, prompting countries like China, Indonesia, and Malaysia to intensify efforts to combat them. Indonesia has previously dismantled international cyber fraud networks with tips from Chinese authorities.
In 2018, Bali Police arrested 103 Chinese nationals and 11 Indonesians allegedly working for them, running a multi-million-dollar cyber fraud syndicate targeting wealthy businessmen and politicians in China. This followed the 2017 deportation of 153 Chinese nationals involved in a network accused of impersonating Chinese police or law officials, amassing around six trillion rupiah ($365.5 million) since late 2016.
