KPK Searches The Flow Of Fee Money For Accelerating Departure Of Hajj Pilgrims Through 2 Witnesses

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects that there is money paid by travel agents or travel agents who organize special Hajj (PIHK) so that prospective pilgrims do not need to queue. The investigation was carried out by examining two witnesses, one of whom was the former Treasurer of the Muslim Association for Hajj and Umrah Organizers RI (Amphuri), M. Tauhid Hamdi.

KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo said the examination of two witnesses was carried out at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta on Tuesday, October 7. Apart from Tauhid, investigators also examined M. Iqbal Muhajir, who is a private employee.

"The examination material is related to filling in additional quotas or T-zero (without queues) and the flow of accelerating fees," Budi said in a written statement, Wednesday, October 8.

Budi has not detailed how much the fee will be paid. He only said that so far there have been a number of travel agents who organize special Hajj (PIHK) from several anociations that have returned the money.

"The money goes into a holding account and is currently being calculated. In this case, a number of PIHKs have also returned a sum of money and have been confiscated," he said.

"We are still confirming the exact number, because it goes to the case holding account. Later we will update it again," continued Budi.

Meanwhile, M. Tauhid did not explain the money that was handed over to accelerate the departure of prospective pilgrims after being questioned. He only revealed that investigators were still asking about his meeting with the former Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

"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," Tauhid told reporters after undergoing an examination at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, August 7.

Tauhid also denied intervening in the distribution of additional hajj quotas. He emphasized that all decisions were taken by the Ministry of Religion in this case, Yaqut as minister.

"50 percent of Gus Yaqut's authority, yes, the Ministry of Religion. We don't have intervention to determine the valid quota. We just do what, just meet normally," he said.

Previously reported, the KPK is investigating allegations of corruption related to quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag). 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.