The determination of the suspect, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and his staff was signed by the KPK leadership yesterday. 

KPK spokesperson, Budi Prasetyo/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has finally named two suspects in the alleged corruption in determining quotas and organizing the 2023-2024 hajj in the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag).

The two are former Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and staff in particular, Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex.

"The determination of the suspect was carried out yesterday, Thursday, January 8, 2026," said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to reporters at the KPK Red and White building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Friday, January 9.

The KPK used Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 jo article 55 paragraph 1-1 of the Criminal Code to trap Yaqut and his staff. This means that there is state loss that occurs due to this corrupt practice.

"The BPK is currently still continuing to calculate to calculate the amount of state financial losses caused by this case," he said.

Budi said the letter of Notification of the Commencement of Investigation (SPDP) had also been sent to Yaqut and his staff. However, he did not specify further when it would be.

In the future, the KPK will also call the two as suspects. "Regarding when the examination will be held again, including his detention, we will update," said Budi.

As previously reported, the General Sprindik was issued on August 7, 2025. The institution reasoned that the issuance was carried out so that they could carry out efforts to compel requests for information or searches. The general Sprindik uses Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 jo Article 55 paragraph 1-1 of the Criminal Code. This means that there is state loss that occurs as a result of this corrupt practice.

The KPK said that the state's losses in the 2023-2024 quota and Hajj management corruption cases were said to have reached more than Rp. 1 trillion. The suspicion began with the provision of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia to reduce the queue of pilgrims.

However, recently the distribution turned out to be problematic because it was divided equally, namely 50 percent for regular hajj and 50 percent for special hajj. In fact, based on legislation, the distribution should be 92 percent for regular hajj and 8 percent for special hajj. In the course of this case, a number of people have been questioned, including travel agents or travel agents who organize special hajj (PIHK), including Fuad Hasan Masyhur as the boss of Maktour. Then evidence has also been obtained by investigators after carrying out a series of searches at various locations. Yaqut's house has also been searched and documents have been found.