DKI Jakarta --- The Task Force for Eradicating Illegal Financial Activities (Satgas PASTI) held a coordination meeting to strengthen the synergy in implementing the eradication of illegal investments, illegal online loans and various other illegal financial activities in order to further protect the public.

When opening the event, OJK Chief Executive of Financial Services Business Actor Behavior Monitoring and Consumer Protection, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, said that the synergy of cooperation and collaboration between ministries and institutions must be further enhanced to support the realization of efforts to comprehensively eradicate illegal financial activities within the framework of consumer and community protection in financial services sector.

"We cannot work alone, of course there must be support from the Police, Prosecutor's Office, PPATK and other law enforcement officials as well as cooperation with ministries and institutions so that together we can improve this work. "Now we continue to increase our enforcement efforts, for example we not only close the application but also close the account number and we close the telephone number of the alleged perpetrator," said Friderica (30/11/2023).

It is hoped that this meeting will further strengthen and make the task force more effective, not only to eradicate illegal financial activities but also to carry out prevention, handle cases and attempt to return victims' assets.

Chairman of the PASTI Task Force, Sarjito, said that this meeting was expected to further strengthen and make the task of the Task Force more effective not only to eradicate illegal financial activities but also to carry out prevention, handle cases and efforts to return victims' assets.

"A breakthrough is needed to speed up the handling of cases to prevent increasing losses to society. "For this reason, we have blocked account numbers suspected of being involved in illegal loans and illegal investments," he said.

Sarjito also highlighted that there are still widespread advertisements for illegal loan offers and illegal investments that are circulating and have the potential to trap the public.

The PASTI Task Force coordination meeting also discussed strategic issues including:
1. Account blocking, disclosure of bank secrets, arrest and detention of fraudulent individuals,

2. Tracing and confiscating the assets of fraudulent individuals and interdicting them as an effort to recover community losses,

3. Strengthening coordination in efforts to monitor and prevent permits from illegal entities,

4. Massive and effective socialization and education strategy for the community.

The existence of the PASTI Task Force is confirmed in the Financial Sector Development and Strengthening Law (P2SK) which mandates that the OJK together with related authorities, ministries and institutions form a task force to handle business activities without permits in the financial sector.

Since 2017 the Task Force has stopped 7,502 illegal financial entities. In 2023 until the end of October the Task Force has blocked 18 illegal investment entities and 1,623 illegal online lending entities.

In October 2023, the Task Force received 338 complaints regarding illegal investment and 8,991 complaints regarding illegal lending.

Apart from that, in October the Task Force also blocked 47 bank accounts, blocked 53 telephone numbers and blocked 309 WA numbers suspected of being perpetrators of illegal loans.