KPK Cecar Ex Treasurer Amphuri Regarding Meeting With Former Minister Of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects that there was a meeting between the Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (Amphuri) and former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to discuss the distribution of additional hajj quotas.

This allegation was investigated by examining Tauhid Hamdi as the former Treasurer of Amphuri at the KPK's Red and White building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta on Thursday, September 25. He admitted that he received 11 questions from investigators when asked for information.

"There were 11 questions, (one of them, ed) meeting with Gus Yaqut," said Tauhid after being questioned by reporters at the location.

"(Meeting discussed, red) policies for additional quotas," he added.

Meanwhile, Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu agreed that the meeting between the association of travel agents or travel agents for Hajj and Umrah organizers with Yaqut was being investigated.

Investigators said they were tracing when the incident occurred and its connection with the Minister of Religion's Decree regarding the distribution of 20,000 additional quotas from the Saudi Arabian government.

"So, whether this meeting was before the issuance of the decree, that's what we will also explore. Before the issuance of the decree or after the issuance of the decree," he said on a separate occasion.

In addition, investigators also explored the contents of the discussion between Tauhid and Gus Yaqut at the meeting. "What was discussed because the suspicion was that there must have been talks. During the meeting, just secretly? If you meet, there will be talks," said Asep, who is also the Director of KPK Investigation.

If the meeting occurs after the issuance of the decree on the distribution of additional hajj quotas, Asep continued, the KPK will explore the flow of money from corruption.

"So we work on the initial allegations. Then we ask the initial allegations and we strengthen them with evidence," 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 determined because the process is running using a general investigation warrant (sprindik) and announced.

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 number 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.

During the investigation process, a number of parties have been questioned, including Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. Investigators have also searched his house and found documents and electronic evidence that are suspected to be related.