The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has disclosed the origins\nof the alleged bribery case concerning the management and distribution\nof hajj quotas at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The case began with\na letter sent by a private party to former Minister of Religious Affairs\nYaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter was sent to brother YCQ with the aim of \u2018maximising\nabsorption of additional quotas,\u2019\u201d said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and\nEnforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu at the KPK\u2019s Red and White Building in\nSouth Jakarta on Thursday, 12 March 2026.<\/p>\n
Asep stated that the letter was prompted by an additional quota of\n8,000 pilgrims in May 2023. In fact, the Minister of Religious Affairs\nat that time had agreed in a Commission VIII DPR meeting that the quota\nbe allocated to regular pilgrims.<\/p>\n
However, a private party communicated with the Director General of\nHajj and Umrah Management at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Hilman\nLatief (HL). The communication explained that the private sector group\nwas prepared to maximise absorption of the additional quota.<\/p>\n
From this, Hilman proposed to Yaqut to distribute hajj quotas using a\nscheme of 92 per cent for regular pilgrims and 8 per cent for special\npilgrims. This proposal contradicted the agreement already reached in\nthe DPR.<\/p>\n
\u201cYCQ subsequently approved the proposal and issued Ministry of\nReligious Affairs Decision Number 467 of 2023 on 19 May 2023,\u201d said\nAsep.<\/p>\n
The quota for regular pilgrims thus became 7,360 in 2023. Meanwhile,\nspecial pilgrims received an additional 640 quotas.<\/p>\n
The decision was approved by the DPR. From there, former Subdivision\nHead of Licensing, Accreditation and Development of Special Hajj\nManagement at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Rizky Fisa Abadi (RFA)\nreceived instructions from former Special Staff to the Minister Ishfah\nAbidal Aziz (IIA) to relax the T0 policy, concerning hajj departures\nwithout queuing.<\/p>\n
Following this instruction, Rizky met with hajj associations to\ndiscuss the additional special quota. From this, Rizky promised hajj\ntravel without queuing and the ability to bypass the order.<\/p>\n
However, travel service providers had to pay USD 5,000 per pilgrim to\nobtain this special treatment. Subsequently, the visas of prospective\nhajj pilgrims were changed from regular (mujamalah) to special.<\/p>\n
In this case, the KPK has detained former Minister of Religious\nAffairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. The coercive measure applies for 20 days\nand can be extended.<\/p>\n
The KPK has designated former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut\nCholil Qoumas (YCQ) and former Special Staff to the Minister of\nReligious Affairs Isfan Abidal Aziz (IAA), alias Gus Alex, as suspects\nin the alleged bribery case concerning the management and distribution\nof hajj quotas. The KPK has pledged to bring the case to trial.<\/p>\n
The problem in this hajj quota corruption case stems from quota\ndistribution that does not comply with applicable regulations. Indonesia\nwas actually granted an additional 20,000 quotas to accelerate the hajj\nqueue.<\/p>\n
From this total, the government should have distributed it with a\npercentage of 92 per cent for regular hajj and 8 per cent for special\nhajj. However, several parties instead divided it equally, each\nreceiving 50 per cent.<\/p>\n
The KPK has extensively questioned officials at the Ministry of\nReligious Affairs. Officials from travel and umrah service providers\nwere also requested to provide statements, including Islamic preacher\nUstaz Khalid Basalamah.<\/p>\n
The KPK has formally detained former Minister of Religious Affairs\nYaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ) until 31 March 2026 in connection with the\nhajj quota corruption case. According to investigations, the suspect\nallegedly received fees of IDR 84.4 million per quota through the T0\ncode. The KPK has revealed that the state loss in the hajj quota\ncorruption case reached IDR 622 billion. The DPR Commission III member\nRudianto Lallo expressed full support for the KPK\u2019s decision to detain\nthe former Minister of Religious Affairs.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/origins-of-hajj-quota-corruption-yaqut-received-letter-from-private-sector-1773327298", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }