Al-Munawar detained over haj fund scandal<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After three marathon rounds of questioning, police
\ndetained on Thursday former religious affairs minister Said Agil
\nHussein Al-Munawar for his alleged role in the haj funds scandal.<\/p>\n
Investigators said Al-Munawar's detention was necessary to
\nhelp them get to the bottom of an alleged scandal involving the
\nmisuse of unused haj funds amounting to at least Rp 684 billion
\n(US$72 million).<\/p>\n
Former director general of Islamic guidance and haj
\nmanagement, Taufiq Kamil, had been detained earlier.<\/p>\n
Head of the interdepartmental anticorruption team, Hendarman
\nSupandji, who is also the deputy attorney general for special
\ncrimes at the Attorney General's Office (AGO), told reporters
\nthat the former minister issued a decree in 2002 which justified
\nthe use of haj funds to support the ministry's budget for
\nmiscellaneous purposes, which is widely regarded as being prone
\nto abuse.<\/p>\n
Hendarman said he, as well as the fraud squad chief at
\nNational Police Headquarters, Brig. Gen. Indarto, had recommended
\nthat Al-Munawar be detained due to incriminating prima facie
\nevidence linking him to the case.<\/p>\n
"Our investigators found proof that he violated the
\nAnticorruption Law (No. 31\/1999) by tapping state funds to enrich
\nhimself and others," Hendarman said.<\/p>\n
The alleged scam came to the public's attention after an audit
\nby the Finance Development Comptroller (BPKP) on the ministry's
\naccounts found several irregularities in the management of haj
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
The funds, which are supposed to be deposited in one account
\nand used only for the benefit of haj pilgrims, were in fact
\ndeposited in separate accounts and used to finance activities
\nunrelated to the haj, including augmenting the ministry budget
\nand improving the welfare of ministry employees.<\/p>\n
Al-Munawar admitted there were flaws in the procedures
\ncontained in the decree, which bypassed the ministry's secretary-
\ngeneral.<\/p>\n
"After I talked to the ministry's secretary-general, Faisal
\nIsmail, I found out that the decree had not been properly issued
\nas it was only signed by the director general of Islamic guidance
\nand haj management," Al-Munawar said.<\/p>\n
All decrees should be signed by both the relevant director
\ngeneral and the secretary-general.<\/p>\n
However, Al-Munawar failed to explain why he only admitted the
\nmistake after an investigation had been launched into the
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
Al-Munawar's lawyer Ayuk Fadlun Sahab said he would inform the
\ninvestigators about the flaws so that they could verify his
\nclient's explanations with the secretary general.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, investigators resumed the questioning of
\nTaufiq. His lawyer, Adya Daswanta, said his client had been asked
\nabout the disbursement of haj funds, the setting of haj
\npilgrimage costs and the procedures for issuing ministerial
\ndecrees.<\/p>\n
However, Adiya refused to respond to Al-Munawar's accusation
\nthat his client violated the procedures for the issuance of a
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
Separately, Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif admitted
\nthat the organization received Rp 500 million from the religious
\naffairs ministry three years ago.<\/p>\n
"The money was given to support Muhammadiyah. But we don't
\nknow whether the money was taken from the haj funds or not as the
\nministry did not give us any information about it," Syafii was
\nquoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/al-munawar-detained-over-haj-fund-scandal-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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