Umrah Travel Fraud Suspect Mode Changes Name, Police: Eliminate Recidivist Image

Director of General Criminal Investigation of Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Hengki Haryadi (Rizky APP/VOI)

JAKARTA - Polda Metro Jaya stated that Mahfudz Abdullah, who is a suspect in the umrah travel mode fraud case, deliberately changed his name to Abi. The goal is to eliminate his bad image as a recidivist.

"In order not to find out that the person concerned had previously carried out the same mode or recidivist, the person concerned changed his name, namely Mahfudz Abdullah to Abi Hafidz Al-Maqdisy," said Director of General Criminal Investigation of the Metro Jaya Police Kombes Hengki Haryadi to reporters, Thursday, March 30.

Mahfudz Abdullah was a recidivist of a similar case in 2016. In addition, another reason the suspect changed his name was because he would acquire PT Naila Safaah Wisata Mandiri (NSWM).

In that way, the suspect can freely carry out his actions. Because, what the public knows is Abi Hafidz Al-Maqdisy.

"The person concerned bought PT Naila Syafa'ah Wisata Mandiri so that it would not be found out because previously he had another PT, another one that was already prosecuted in 2016 by the Metro Jaya Police, namely PT Garuda Angkasa Mandiri," said Hengki.

In a series of disclosures of cases of Umrah travel mode fraud, apart from Mahfudz Abdullah, two other people were named as suspects, namely, Halikah Amin and Hermansyah.

In carrying out the action, this gang of fraudsters collaborated with religious leaders. The goal is for people to believe and want to use the travel services.

The three were charged with Article 126 Juncto Article 119 A of Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah as amended in Article 126 of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.