Following Khalid, KPK Continues to Summon 4 Hajj Bureaus in Case of Former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has scheduled examinations of four witnesses from Hajj and Umrah travel agencies for today, Friday (24/4). This examination is to complete the case file for the suspects, former Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia for the 2019-2024 period, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, and his associates. The witnesses summoned by the KPK today are the Operations Director of PT Marco Tour & Travel, Syarif Thalib; Director of PT Medina Mitra Wisata, Asep Inwanudin; Commissioner of PT Muhibbah Mulia Wisata, Ibnu Mas’ud; and President Director of PT Almuchtar Tour and Travel, Mahmud Muchtar. As of the writing of this news, no witnesses have arrived at the KPK’s Gedung Merah Putih. Previously, on Thursday (23/4), the KPK examined five witnesses. They were the owner of PT Zahra Oto Mandiri (Uhud Tour), Khalid Zeed Abdullah Basalamah; President Director of PT Kafilah Maghfirah Wisata, Firman M. Nur; Director of PT Chairul Umam Addauli, Dahrizal Dahlan; Director of PT Nadwa Mulia Utama, Zulhendri; and President Director of PT Sriwijaya Mega Wisata, Salwaty. “This is part of the examinations of travel bureaus or PIHK (Penyelenggara Ibadah Haji Khusus) that are indeed needed by investigators to further explore how the buying and selling or filling of Hajj worship quotas was carried out by those PIHK,” said Budi at his office in Jakarta on Thursday (23/4). The KPK has now named four individuals as suspects in this alleged corruption case regarding the 2023-2024 Hajj quota, which is suspected to have caused state financial losses of Rp622 billion. They are former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas; Yaqut’s staff member Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex; Operations Director of PT Makassar Toraja (Maktour), Ismail Adham; and Commissioner of PT Raudah Eksati Utama as well as General Chairman of the Kesthuri Association, Asrul Azis Taba. Nevertheless, only Yaqut and Ishfah have been detained by the KPK so far. The KPK is applying Article 2 paragraph (1) and or Article 3 of the Law on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption (UU Tipikor) in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) first of the Criminal Code or as referred to in Article 603 or Article 604 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 20 letter (c) of the Criminal Code Law in this case.