Four New Facts Revealed in Hajj Quota Case Following KPK's Detention of Yaqut
The Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has formally detained Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, former Religious Affairs Minister. Several new facts emerged following KPK’s announcement of his detention.
KPK’s Director of Prosecution and Enforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu disclosed these details during a press conference on Thursday evening, 12 March. The following new facts were revealed:
- Yaqut Allegedly Received Fees
During the press conference, Asep Guntur Rahayu indicated that Yaqut received fees in connection with this case. KPK suspects Yaqut received these fees after approving a proposal to distribute additional hajj quotas in 2023.
Asep explained that the 2023 additional hajj quota of 8,000 slots should have been allocated entirely for hajj. However, Yaqut agreed to a distribution of 92% for regular quotas and 8% for special quotas following a letter from Maktour travel agency director Fuad Hasan Masyhur, who also serves as chairman of the Fellowship Council of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Travel Agencies (SATHU), to maximise absorption of the additional quota.
“YCQ subsequently approved the proposal by issuing Religious Affairs Minister Decision (KMA) number 467 of 2023 on 19 May 2023 concerning the determination of additional hajj quotas for 2023 with a composition of 7,360 quotas for regular hajj and 640 quotas for special hajj,” Asep explained during the press conference.
Following Yaqut’s approval, a decision was issued compiled by Rizky Fisa Abadi (RFA), former head of the subdivision for licensing, accreditation, and special hajj services at the Religious Affairs Ministry. According to KPK, this decision was issued following instructions from Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IAA), also known as Gus Alex, who served as Yaqut’s special assistant.
“Based on KPK’s investigation, RFA also provided acceleration fees to YCQ, IAA, and several officials at the Religious Affairs Ministry,” stated Asep.
Subsequently, in 2024, Yaqut again received fees for accelerating the dispatch of special quota hajj from additional quotas obtained by Indonesia from Saudi Arabia. In 2024, Indonesia received an additional 20,000 hajj quotas.
“The agreed fee was valued at USD 2,000 or approximately Rp 33.8 million per pilgrim,” Asep noted.
Gus Alex instructed M Agus Syafi (MAS), head of the subdivision for licensing, accreditation, and special hajj services, to collect money from special hajj organisers (PIHK), which was ultimately charged to prospective special hajj pilgrims, at least USD 2,500 (Rp 42.2 million) per pilgrim as fees, commitment fees, or other charges to obtain additional special hajj quotas.
“The collection of money was conducted between February and June 2024,” he added.
- Fee Intended to be Returned
The next fact is that Gus Alex apparently intended to return money collected from PIHK. This was because parliament (DPR) planned to establish a special committee (Pansus) for the 2024 hajj.
“When information circulated that parliament would form a special hajj committee around July 2024, IAA instructed the subdivision head to return the collected money to the associations or PIHK operators,” Asep explained.
However, some of the money had already been used by Yaqut for personal purposes.
“However, part of the fee money was stored and used for YCQ’s personal interests,” Asep clarified.
- Efforts to ‘Condition’ the Hajj Committee
Furthermore, Asep stated that Yaqut attempted to ‘condition’ the special hajj committee by providing money from fees obtained through granting 50% of quotas to special hajj organisers (PIHK). Ordinarily, they should have received only 8% of the total 20,000 additional quotas obtained by Indonesia in 2024.
“The money collected from fees was also allegedly used to condition the hajj committee, which was known to YCQ,” Asep explained.
Asep noted that Yaqut’s attempted bribery did not succeed as the hajj committee rejected the money offered. He stated that Yaqut attempted to give the hajj committee approximately USD 1 million.
“There was an attempt to provide something but it was rejected. This, thank God, the committee was very good and had integrity, so it rejected it. The amount was approximately USD 1 million, but it was rejected,” Asep explained.
The money was ultimately kept by Yaqut and now serves as evidence secured by KPK.
- Total Seized Assets Reach Rp 100 Billion
From this case, Asep stated the total value of asset seizures in the 2023-2024 hajj quota corruption case involving Yaqut. KPK reported that assets totalling more than Rp 100 billion have been seized in this case.
“In this case, KPK has also conducted asset seizures totalling more than Rp 100 billion in value,” he stated.
Asep noted that the seizures include US dollars, Saudi riyals, and Indonesian rupiah in various denominations. The amount also includes seizures of vehicles, land, and buildings.
“Consisting of money totalling USD 3.7 million, Rp 22 billion and SAR 16,000, as well as 4 motor vehicles, 5 plots of land and buildings,” Asep concluded.