Gus Alex Ordered Fee Returns When Parliament Moved to Establish Hajj Special Committee

The Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed the central role played by Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IAA), alias Gus Alex, a former special assistant to ex-Religion Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ), in a hajj quota corruption case. Gus Alex allegedly ordered funds collected from Special Hajj Organisers (PIHK) by Religion Ministry officials as fees for accelerated hajj departures without queuing to be returned after learning that parliament would establish a Special Committee (Pansus) for hajj 2024.

“When information circulated that parliament would establish the Hajj Special Committee around July 2024, IAA ordered the sub-directorate head to return the collected funds to the associations or PIHKs,” said KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu during a press conference at KPK headquarters in South Jakarta on Thursday (12 March 2026).

Furthermore, Asep stated that the fees requested from each pilgrim by PIHK were partially retained. Some had already been utilised for purposes benefiting Yaqut as Religion Minister.

“However, some fee money was still being retained and used for the personal interests of YCQ,” Asep explained.

Gus Alex Orders Religion Ministry Officials to Request Fees from PIHKs

Asep explained that Gus Alex, as Yaqut’s special assistant at the time, had instructed officials at the Religion Ministry to request fees from PIHKs. This request came after Yaqut, as Religion Minister, allocated a larger special hajj quota than regulations permitted, drawn from additional regular hajj quotas.

Asep stated that in 2023, Gus Alex instructed Rizky Fisa Abadi (RFA), a former sub-directorate head for Licensing, Accreditation, and Special Hajj Organisation Development at the Religion Ministry, to issue a 2023 Directorate General Decision regarding policy relaxation related to accelerating pilgrim departures so they could depart without queuing through the allocated special hajj quota.

“RFA subsequently determined pilgrimage quotas for 54 PIHKs, enabling them to depart directly without queuing. RFA also provided special treatment to certain PIHKs to fill additional special hajj quotas with expedited direct departures,” Asep explained.

RFA, according to Asep, then instructed staff to collect acceleration fees from PIHKs for filling additional special hajj quotas receiving expedited direct departures valued at USD 5,000 or approximately IDR 84.4 million per pilgrim. One method of collecting these fees involved converting mujamalah visa hajj pilgrims into special hajj.

“Based on KPK investigation findings, RFA also distributed these acceleration fees to YCQ, IAA, and several Religion Ministry officials,” Asep stated.

In 2024, a similar scheme recurred. Gus Alex resumed communicating with a Director of Hajj Services at the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah to create a simulation of regular and special hajj schemes with additional quotas divided equally at 50 per cent each. However, that year’s additional quota of 20,000 should have been divided at 98 per cent for regular quotas and 2 per cent for special quotas.

“In early January 2024, IAA summoned staff from the Directorate of Umrah and Special Hajj Development and the sub-directorate head for Licensing, Accreditation, and Special Hajj Organisation Development to his office,” said Asep.

“IAA directed them to collect acceleration fees and appointed someone to coordinate the fee money from associations and Special Hajj Organisers. The fee value was agreed at USD 2,000 or approximately IDR 33.8 million per pilgrim,” he added.