KPK Reveals Sale And Purchase Of Hajj Quota Not Only For Congregants But Between Travel Agents

Illustration of the Atmosphere of the Grand Mosque, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, during the implementation of the pilgrimage. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that the practice of buying and selling special quotas does not only occur between travel agents or travel agents and prospective pilgrims.

KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo said the sale and purchase of special hajj quotas was also carried out between travel agents. This finding was obtained when investigators investigated allegations of corruption in quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion.

"In practice, it is suspected that the sale and purchase of this quota is not only carried out by the Hajj travel agency to prospective pilgrims but also between the Hajj travel agencies. Well, we will see that," Budi told reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Wednesday, September 17.

Budi further revealed that the practice of buying and selling special hajj quotas began when Indonesia received an additional 20,000 rations from the Saudi Arabian government.

This hajj quota is then divided by 50 percent for special Hajj and 50 percent for regular Hajj. This process is called Budi not in accordance with Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah.

The law should regulate the additional hajj quota divided by 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.

"This means that the cut is not significant in regular Hajj, the queue is very long, because those who were originally scheduled to get a quota of 18.400 if 92 percent of the 20,000 with splitting are regular, only 10,000. The remaining 10,000 are in particular," 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).