Not Only Syarif Hamzah, KPK Opportunity To Call Other GP Ansor Officials To Search For Hajj Quota Corruption Money

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that it would summon anyone suspected of knowing about the alleged corruption in quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag). The opportunity to summon GP Ansor officials is open in this case.

The KPK has summoned the Deputy Secretary General of GP Ansor, Syarif Hamzah Asyathry, on Thursday, September 4.

He fulfilled the call and was questioned about documents and electronic evidence (BBE) found at the house of former Religious Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

"Later, the parties (who are summoned, ed), yes, will not be limited," said KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo to reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Wednesday, September 17.

"This means that investigators view, suspect that, for example, the person concerned knows and whose information is needed, then a summons can be made for questioning," he continued.

Meanwhile, when asked whether there was a flow of corruption money to the community organization (ormas), Budi did not want to elaborate further.

"So far, the alleged flow is to parties within the Ministry of Religion," he said.

Previously reported, the KPK said that allegations of corruption related to quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) would enter a new chapter. In the near future, the suspects will be announced because the process is running using a general investigation warrant (sprindik).

The general Sprindik uses Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. This means that there are state losses that occur due to this corrupt practice.

State losses in the corruption case of quota and Hajj for the period 2023-2024 are said to have reached more than IDR 1 trillion. This amount is still increasing because it is only the initial calculation of the KPK which continues to coordinate with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

This case stems from the provision of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia to reduce queues for pilgrims. However, the distribution turned out to be problematic because it was divided equally, namely 50 percent for regular Hajj and 50 percent for special Hajj based on the Decree (SK) of the Minister of Religion signed by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

In fact, based on the law, the distribution should be 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.

Later, the distribution of problems was allegedly due to money from the Hajj and Umrah travel parties as well as the associations that oversee the Ministry of Religion. After getting the allotment, they sold the additional quota to prospective pilgrims.