Former Treasurer Of Amphuri Denies Intervention In Distribution Of Additional Hajj Quota After Being Examined By The KPK

JAKARTA - Former Treasurer of the Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (Amphuri), HM Tauhid Hamdi denied intervening in the distribution of additional hajj quotas. He emphasized that all decisions were taken by the Ministry of Religion in this case, the then Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

Hal tersebut disampaikan Tauhid usai menjalani pemeriksaan di gedung Merah KPK, Kuningan Persada, Jakarta Selatan pada hari ini, 7 September. Ia dimintai keterangan sebagai saksi kasus korupsi kuota dan penyelenggaraan haji tahun 2023-2024 pada Kementerian Agama.

"50 percent of Gus Yaqut's authority, yes, the Ministry of Religion. We don't have intervention to determine thelevant quota. We just do what, just meet normally," Tauhid told reporters at the location.

Furthermore, Tauhid said investigators were still asking about his meeting with Yaqut. However, he claims, he never discussed the distribution of additional hajj quotas that turned out to violate the law.

"It is still around the deepening of the meeting with Gus Yaqut before the KMA (Decision of the Minister of Religion) falls, before and the gathering after he is no longer minister of religion," he said.

Previously reported, the KPK sedan investigating allegations of corruption related to quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) will enter a new chapter. No suspects have been named for using a general investigation warrant (sprindik).

The generalized 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.