NTB Police Raise Case Of Alleged Umrah Travel Fraud Mahisa Tour & Travel To Investigation

Dirreskrimum Polda NTB Kombes Pol. Teddy Ristiawan. ANTARA

The alleged criminal case of fraud by the Umrah travel agency company PT Mahisa Tour & Travel, which is based in Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara, is now in the investigation stage. Director of General Criminal Investigation of the NTB Police, Kombes Teddy Ristiawan, confirmed that this case had entered the investigation stage. "Yes, it has been fingerprinted," said Teddy in Mataram, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, July 25. He explained that this case entered the investigation stage based on the results of the case title which found indications of unlawful acts. By increasing the status of case handling to the investigation stage, Teddy assured investigators in the near future to reveal the role of the suspect. "Because it has been fingerprinted, it's just a matter of determining the suspect," he said. The NTB Regional Police are handling this case based on reports of a victim who is a professor in legal science named Zainal Asikin. Asikin admitted that he had been a victim and reported the Umrah travel agency company in early March 2023. He said that the intention to report this alleged fraud to the police began with no news from the company when he was about to pay off the Umrah fee deposit. At that time, Asikin admitted that he immediately went to the PT Mahisa Tour & Travel office. However, arriving at the location, Asikin did not meet any officers from the company. Asikin said that he had tried to contact a company director named Nanang Supriadi. As a result, there was no response. He admitted that he had made the initial deposit of the agreement to depart for the Umrah. He deposited it directly to the PT Mahisa Tour & Travel office, which is located at Jalan Pejanggik, Mataram City. Asikin said he handed over directly to company employees. He also received a deposit receipt which is proof of the handover. "That was in November 2022. The initial deposit was IDR 60 million. That was for 6 people. Promised to depart in February 2023. The employee said the deposit was immediately transferred to Nanang's account (Director of PT Mahisa Tour & Travel)," he said. Asikin admitted that he was tempted to go to Umrah using the services of PT Mahisa Tour & Travel after seeing a promotion from the company featuring the face of Dr. Tuan Guru Haji (TGH) Lalu Pattimura Parhan, a religious figure from Lombok Island who is quite famous. "Because there is a photo of the teacher that makes us interested," he said. With this problem, Zainal saw that he was not the only victim. He suspects that there are more than one hundred victims of this Umrah travel agency. This was also confirmed by the statement of Zainal's legal adviser, Imam. He assured that there were also victims from this Umrah travel agency who reported to the Mataram Police.

"The information is that there are many more victims in East Java who report to the police. Maybe there is an office there too," added Imam.