Prosecutor Reveals the Filling of Additional Hajj Quota is Regulated by Maktour Boss Fuad Hasan Masyhur

Owner of the travel company for the hajj and umrah bureau, PT. Maktour Fuad Hasan Masyhur / DOK ANTARA FOTO / Fakhri Hermansyah / nz

JAKARTA - The Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that the filling of additional Hajj quotas in 2024 was allegedly regulated through one door through the boss of Maktour Travel who is also the Board of Trustees of the Silaturahmi Forum of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Travel (SATHU), Fuad Hasan Masyhur.

This was revealed in the indictment of the alleged corruption case of additional Hajj quotas in 2023-2024 which was read by the KPK prosecutor Greafik at the Corruption Crime Court (Tipikor) at the Central Jakarta District Court today, August 11.

The prosecutor said the incident began after the Saudi Arabian government gave an additional 20,000 pilgrims to Indonesia. In early 2024, former Special Staff to the Minister of Religion, Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex, was said to have met with Fuad Hasan Masyhur and Maktour's Operations Director, Ismail Adham at the Maktour office.

During the meeting, Fuad explained the background of Indonesia obtaining an additional quota of 20,000 pilgrims.

The meeting then continued in the afternoon at the Al Jazeera Restaurant, Polonia, East Jakarta. At that time, Gus Alex together with Jaja Jaelani and Agus Syafei met again with Fuad and Ismail.

"In the meeting, Fuad Hasan Masyhur again discussed the additional Hajj quota given by the Saudi Arabian government and asked that the technical implementation of the filling of the additional Hajj quota be carried out through Fuad Hasan Masyhur," said Greafik when reading the indictment.

Fuad then used Maktour to handle quota filling. On January 12, 2024, the Hajj travel agency sent a letter Number 010/MKT/I/2024 to the Director of Special Umrah and Hajj Development containing a request for an accelerated departure for 110 Maktour Hajj pilgrims.

The prosecutor further revealed the alleged manipulation of the date of issuance of a number of decisions of the Minister of Religion regarding additional Hajj quotas. One of them is the Decree of the Minister of Religion Number 1156 of 2023 concerning the Additional Hajj Quota for the Year 1445 Hijriah/2024 Masehi.

The letter states December 21, 2023. However, the prosecutor said the decision was only signed by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas on January 9, 2024.

According to the prosecutor, the inclusion of the date was done so that prospective pilgrims who are entitled to make a payment do not have enough time to complete the payment.

Because the deadline for repayment is determined for a maximum of 30 days from the decision being made. The prosecutor also said that the decision was not disseminated and was limited.

A day after signing the decision, namely January 10, 2024, Yaqut is said to have led a hybrid meeting from Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

The meeting was attended by special staff and expert staff of the Minister of Religion, the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Jeddah.

In the meeting, Yaqut is said to have conveyed the allocation of 10,000 special hajj quotas from an additional 20,000 quotas to be managed entirely by the Special Hajj Service (PIHK).

Furthermore, on January 18, 2024, a meeting was held via Zoom to discuss the Minister of Religion's decision regarding additional Hajj quotas.

In the meeting, Selamet, a Deputy Expert Planner at the Human Resources and Legal Organization of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah of the Ministry of Religion, is said to have conveyed instructions from Gus Alex that the new decision regarding the additional quota had been issued on January 22, 2024.

Then on January 24, 2024, Yaqut issued a Decree of the Minister of Religion Number 130 of 2024. However, the letter is said to have been made backdated by listing the date of January 15, 2024.

The decision regulates the distribution of 20,000 additional Hajj quotas into 10,000 quotas for special Hajj and 10,000 quotas for regular Hajj.

According to the prosecutor, the 50:50 division was carried out to disguise the change in the quota composition made at Yaqut's initiative to accommodate the interests of PIHK.

PIHK is said to want the allocation of special hajj quotas to exceed the provision of 8 percent of the total Indonesian hajj quota.

To anticipate the difference in the composition of the quota with the results of the working meeting of Commission VIII of the DPR RI with the Ministry of Religion on November 27, 2023 and Presidential Decree Number 6 of 2024, Yaqut then sent a letter to Commission VIII of the DPR RI.

Letter Number B057/MA/2/2024 dated February 27, 2024 contains adjustments to the use of the benefit value due to changes in the allocation of regular and special hajj quotas.

In the letter, the allocation of additional quotas for regular hajj was changed from 18,400 pilgrims to 10,000 pilgrims. Meanwhile, the special hajj quota increased from 1,600 pilgrims to 10,000 pilgrims.

Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives and the Ministry of Religion subsequently held a working meeting on March 13, 2024.

In the meeting, the change in the composition of the regular and special quota for the implementation of the 2024 hajj was stated to be different from the results of the previous working meeting and Presidential Decree Number 6 of 2024. Commission VIII of the DPR RI further stated that it would conduct a discussion.

However, according to the prosecutor, until the end of the 2024 Hajj, there was no further discussion between Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives and the Ministry of Religion. There was also no revision of the determination of the Hajj quota in Presidential Decree Number 6 of 2024.

However, the prosecutor said Yaqut still implemented a quota distribution with a composition of 50 percent for regular hajj and 50 percent for special hajj. This policy, according to the prosecutor, was carried out to accommodate the wishes of the PIHK.