Former Religion Minister Yaqut Accused of Receiving Acceleration Fees for Pilgrims, Allowing Travel Without Queuing
Jakarta — Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has stated that former Religion Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas received fees from special hajj operators (PIHK) related to the acceleration of hajj pilgrim departures under the T0 scheme, which allows newly registered pilgrims to depart directly to the Holy Land without waiting in the queue.
According to the KPK investigation team’s findings, Rizky Fisa Abadi, a former sub-director of licensing, accreditation, and supervision of special hajj operators at the Religion Ministry, also provided acceleration fees to Yaqut, to his special staff Ishfah Abidal Aziz (known as Gus Alex), and to several other officials at the Religion Ministry, stated Deputy for Prosecution and Execution at the KPK, Asep Guntur Rahayu, during a press conference at the Red and White Building on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
Asep explained that the case originated when Yaqut’s special staff, Gus Alex, instructed Rizky Fisa Abadi to relax policies concerning the T0 scheme. Rizky Fisa subsequently determined hajj quotas for 54 special hajj operators, allowing them to depart directly without queuing. He also gave preferential treatment to certain operators to fill additional special hajj quotas with T0 or TX (acceleration or out-of-sequence) pilgrims.
Rizky also instructed his staff to collect acceleration fees from special hajj operators for filling additional special hajj quotas allocated to T0 or TX pilgrims, valued at USD 5,000 or approximately 84.4 million rupiah per pilgrim. One method involved converting pilgrims holding mujamalah visas into special hajj pilgrims.
These practices continued in 2024. In early January 2024, Gus Alex called staff from the Directorate of Lesser Pilgrimage and Special Hajj Operations and the sub-director of licensing, accreditation, and supervision of special hajj operators to his office. He directed them to collect acceleration fees and appointed individuals to coordinate fee collection from associations and special hajj operators. The agreed fee was set at USD 2,000 or approximately 33.8 million rupiah per pilgrim.
Subsequently, Gus Alex instructed M Agus Syafi, the sub-director of licensing, accreditation, and supervision of special hajj operators, to request funds from special hajj operators, which were ultimately charged to prospective special hajj pilgrims. The collection of these funds took place between February and June 2024.
Following the investigation, the KPK arrested former Religion Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as a suspect in the alleged corruption case involving the 2023-2024 hajj quota. Yaqut was formally detained after being questioned as a suspect at the Red and White Building in Jakarta. The KPK’s Deputy for Prosecution and Execution announced that Yaqut would be held for an initial 20-day detention period from 12 to 31 March 2026 at the KPK’s detention facility at the Red and White Building in Jakarta.