Dito Ariotedjo Questioned Over Two New Private Sector Suspects in Hajj Quota Case

Former Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo stated he was questioned about two new private sector suspects in the alleged corruption case involving Hajj quotas at the Ministry of Religious Affairs for 2023-2024. He made the statement after undergoing examination as a witness. “This examination was for the new investigation warrant. Previously, I was here for the warrant concerning the first suspects, Gus Yaqut and Gus Alex. This second one involves private parties. It was just adding more information,” Dito said at the KPK’s Merah Putih building in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/6). Dito said the material of the examination was not much different from his previous questioning on 23 January. He stated he was still being questioned about the process of granting additional Hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government to Indonesia. “It was more about the fact that at the time, I was in Saudi Arabia during the meeting with MBS. Coincidentally, my father-in-law was also related to the association. So they dug more into that,” he said. Dito was one of the officials who travelled to Saudi Arabia when the additional quota was agreed upon. He was examined regarding his knowledge of the additional 20,000 Hajj quotas granted by the Saudi government to Indonesia in 2022. The KPK has named four suspects and detained them in this case: former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, his former special staff Ishfana Abidal Azis (Gus Alex), PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour) Operational Director Ismail Adham, and Kesthuri Association Chairman Asrul Azis Taba. The KPK suspects Ismail and Asrul gave money to Yaqut through an intermediary, Gus Alex. Ismail allegedly gave US$30,000 to Gus Alex and US$5,000 to former Director General of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Hilman Latief. The KPK stated that state losses in this case amount to IDR 622 billion.