Al-Munawar detained over haj fund scandal

Al-Munawar detained over haj fund scandal

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After three marathon rounds of questioning, police
detained on Thursday former religious affairs minister Said Agil
Hussein Al-Munawar for his alleged role in the haj funds scandal.

Investigators said Al-Munawar's detention was necessary to
help them get to the bottom of an alleged scandal involving the
misuse of unused haj funds amounting to at least Rp 684 billion
(US$72 million).

Former director general of Islamic guidance and haj
management, Taufiq Kamil, had been detained earlier.

Head of the interdepartmental anticorruption team, Hendarman
Supandji, who is also the deputy attorney general for special
crimes at the Attorney General's Office (AGO), told reporters
that the former minister issued a decree in 2002 which justified
the use of haj funds to support the ministry's budget for
miscellaneous purposes, which is widely regarded as being prone
to abuse.

Hendarman said he, as well as the fraud squad chief at
National Police Headquarters, Brig. Gen. Indarto, had recommended
that Al-Munawar be detained due to incriminating prima facie
evidence linking him to the case.

"Our investigators found proof that he violated the
Anticorruption Law (No. 31/1999) by tapping state funds to enrich
himself and others," Hendarman said.

The alleged scam came to the public's attention after an audit
by the Finance Development Comptroller (BPKP) on the ministry's
accounts found several irregularities in the management of haj
funds.

The funds, which are supposed to be deposited in one account
and used only for the benefit of haj pilgrims, were in fact
deposited in separate accounts and used to finance activities
unrelated to the haj, including augmenting the ministry budget
and improving the welfare of ministry employees.

Al-Munawar admitted there were flaws in the procedures
contained in the decree, which bypassed the ministry's secretary-
general.

"After I talked to the ministry's secretary-general, Faisal
Ismail, I found out that the decree had not been properly issued
as it was only signed by the director general of Islamic guidance
and haj management," Al-Munawar said.

All decrees should be signed by both the relevant director
general and the secretary-general.

However, Al-Munawar failed to explain why he only admitted the
mistake after an investigation had been launched into the
scandal.

Al-Munawar's lawyer Ayuk Fadlun Sahab said he would inform the
investigators about the flaws so that they could verify his
client's explanations with the secretary general.

Also on Thursday, investigators resumed the questioning of
Taufiq. His lawyer, Adya Daswanta, said his client had been asked
about the disbursement of haj funds, the setting of haj
pilgrimage costs and the procedures for issuing ministerial
decrees.

However, Adiya refused to respond to Al-Munawar's accusation
that his client violated the procedures for the issuance of a
decree.

Separately, Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif admitted
that the organization received Rp 500 million from the religious
affairs ministry three years ago.

"The money was given to support Muhammadiyah. But we don't
know whether the money was taken from the haj funds or not as the
ministry did not give us any information about it," Syafii was
quoted by Antara as saying.