BPK Auditor Identifies 18 Irregularities in Hajj Quota Corruption Case
Indonesian Audit Board (BPK) auditor Muhammad Ramadhani has identified 18 irregularities in an alleged corruption case involving additional Hajj quotas that implicates former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. The irregularities fall into three categories.
The categories are irregularities in setting additional special-quota allocations, irregularities in filling additional special quotas, and irregularities in the process of filling additional special Hajj quotas.
Ramadhani made the remarks after being called by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors as an expert witness in the alleged corruption case concerning additional Hajj quotas in 2023–2024, at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (27 October 2026). The defendants in the trial are:
Former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas
Yaqut’s former special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz, also known as Gus Alex
Asrul Azis Taba, chairman of the Kesthuri Association
Ismail Adham, operational director of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour)
“What we can present here are the irregularities in setting the additional special quota for 2024. We identified the issues, analysed them and evaluated them. Based on our audit, we found six irregularities relating to the process of setting the special Hajj quota,” Ramadhani said.
Ramadhani outlined the following six irregularities in setting the additional special quota for 2024:
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas set the allocation of additional Hajj quota at 50 per cent for regular Hajj and 50 per cent for special Hajj, despite this conflicting with Law No. 8 of 2019, the outcome of a working meeting between House of Representatives Commission VIII and the Religious Affairs Minister on 27 November 2023, and Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2024 dated 9 January 2024.
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas arranged the 50 per cent allocation of the additional quota for special Hajj before meeting the President of Indonesia on 27 November 2023.
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas signed Ministerial Decree No. 1156 of 2023 and Religious Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 130 of 2024 with backdated dates, creating the appearance that the quota-filling process had complied with the 30-day payment period for Hajj pilgrimage costs (Bipih). In fact, the altered dates reduced the time available to pilgrims to just five days, leaving only 4,204 of the 9,400 eligible prospective special Hajj pilgrims able to pay their fees.
Religious Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 1156 of 2023 and Religious Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 130 of 2024 were not published on haji.kemenag.go.id or jdih.kemenag.go.id, limiting public access to information about the distribution of additional Hajj quotas.
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas included the allocation of 50 per cent of the additional quota to special Hajj in a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, to justify changing the quota proportion from the 8 per cent for special Hajj stipulated by Law No. 8 of 2019 in Religious Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 130 of 2024.
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas told the Forum Sathu (Forum of Hajj and Umrah Travel Associations) that he had appointed Ishfah Abidal Aziz to represent him in communications with the forum concerning the additional Hajj quota for 2024.
Ramadhani then explained the irregularities in filling the additional special quotas for 2023–2024. He said there were four irregularities in this category.
“The irregularities in filling the additional special quota relate to two years, 2023 and 2024,” Ramadhani said.
He outlined the following four irregularities in filling the additional special quotas for 2023–2024:
Former Director General of Hajj and Umrah Services Hilman Latief issued Director General of Hajj and Umrah Services Decree No. 240 of 2023, drafted by Rizky Fisa Abadi on Ishfah Abidal Aziz’s instructions, so that it could be filled by T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims in accordance with requests from PIHK associations.
Rizky Fisa Abadi determined the quotas for pilgrims at 54 PIHKs to fill the additional special Hajj quota with T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims.
Rizky Fisa Abadi gave Maktour preferential treatment in filling the additional special Hajj quota with T0 special Hajj pilgrims.
Rizky Fisa Abadi instructed Ridwan Kurniawan to collect expedited-processing fees from PIHKs for filling the quota with T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims. The agreed fee was US$5,000 per pilgrim.
Ramadhani then set out eight irregularities in the process of filling the additional special Hajj quota for 2024:
Hilman Latief issued Director General of Hajj and Umrah Services Decree No. 118 of 2024, drafted by Muhammad Agus Syafii and Abdul Muhyi on Ishfah Abidal Aziz’s instructions, so that the additional special quota could be filled by T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims in accordance with requests from PIHK associations.
Ishfah Abidal Aziz instructed M. Agus Syafii and Abdul Muhyi to accommodate PIHK proposals to fill the additional special Hajj quota with T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims.
Ishfah Abidal Aziz instructed Muhammad Agus Syafii and Abdul Muhyi to collect expedited-processing fees from PIHKs for filling the additional special Hajj quota with T0 or TX special Hajj pilgrims. The fees reportedly ranged from US$2,000 to US$7,200 per pilgrim.
Jaja Jaelani designated 3,255 additional special Hajj pilgrims from 214 PIHKs as eligible to complete payment to fill the remaining additional special quota, and they were sent without supporting applications from the PIHKs as required under the relevant ministerial and director-general regulations.
A total of 41 PIHKs sent 106 special Hajj pilgrims who were not listed in the 2024 circular identifying those eligible to complete payment.
The additional special Hajj quota for 2024 was filled, based on PIHK proposals, by 8,151 T0 or TX pilgrims who were not eligible to depart.
A total of 36 PIHKs sold 128 additional special Hajj officer quota places to members of the public.
Travel agencies without PIHK permits registered and sent special Hajj pilgrims by borrowing a personal identification number (PIN) from licensed PIHKs that held such a PIN.
In this case, former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas is accused of causing state losses of Rp622,090,207,166.41 (around Rp622 billion) in the alleged corruption of additional Hajj quotas in 2023–2024. Prosecutors say Yaqut acted together with Kesthuri Association chairman Asrul Azis Taba, his former special staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz, also known as Gus Alex, and Maktour operational director Ismail Adham.