Hanania Travel Boss Used Pilgrims' Funds to Pay Influencers for Promotions
Police have uncovered that funds belonging to Umrah pilgrims were used by Hanania Travel to pay influencers. Investigators are currently tracing the assets of the Hanania Travel boss, Ahmad Syah Farhan (ASF), to determine the destination of the money belonging to prospective pilgrims who failed to depart after allegedly being defrauded by Farhan.
“Regarding the flow of funds, in our law enforcement efforts, we are not solely focused on imprisoning an individual to hold them accountable for their actions, but also on how to restore or return the losses experienced by the victims,” stated the Director of General Criminal Investigation of the Metro Jaya Regional Police, Kombes Iman Imanuddin, during a press conference at the Metro Jaya Regional Police Headquarters, South Jakarta, on Tuesday (2/6/2026).
Kombes Iman noted that these assets could be used to recover the losses of the alleged fraud victims. He expressed hope that the asset recovery could be used to facilitate the departure of the prospective pilgrims for their Umrah pilgrimage.
“Furthermore, hopefully, it can be used for the victims to perform their Umrah worship as they had hoped. We will do our utmost to conduct tracing of the assets and the flow of funds owned or managed by the suspect,” he said.
Pilgrims’ Money Used to Pay Influencers
Police stated that the pilgrims’ money was used for purposes unrelated to the pilgrims’ Umrah travel. “Based on the statements taken from the suspect, some of the money was used for interests outside of the pilgrims’ Umrah travel arrangements,” said Kombes Iman.
Iman mentioned that the pilgrims’ funds were used to pay several influencers to promote Umrah packages. “Part of it was also used to pay influencers for marketing purposes, as previously questioned,” he added.
Several influencers will also be interrogated as witnesses after participating in the promotion of Hanania Travel’s Umrah packages. “We will certainly take statements from the individuals involved, including the ‘selebgrams’ who acted as marketers in offering various Umrah packages offered by PT Khazanah Tamma Internasional, or the Hanania Group,” revealed Kombes Iman.
Pretext of Flight Ticket Issues
The suspect claimed that the failure to send victims to the Holy Land was due to changes in flight ticket prices. However, investigators are not accepting this excuse at face value.
“Firstly, regarding the flight tickets. One of the reasons provided by the suspect was delays or changes in flight tickets. This is what the suspect has stated,” said Kombes Iman.
Upon deeper investigation, facts emerged that the pilgrims’ money was used for purposes outside of the planned departure of the pilgrims. “We are basing our findings solely on the legal facts obtained during the investigation process, even though one of the reasons provided was related to flight tickets,” he added.
Police have exposed the misuse of Umrah pilgrims’ funds by the Hanania Travel boss, which resulted in the pilgrims failing to depart. Police stated that the money was diverted to interests unrelated to the pilgrims’ travel.
Efforts to Return Pilgrims’ Money
Asset tracing is being conducted to identify the use of funds belonging to prospective pilgrims who failed to depart for Umrah after being allegedly defrauded by Farhan. Police stated that these assets could be used to compensate the victims of the alleged fraud.
He stated that the Metro Jaya Regional Police would strive to the utmost to recover the victims’ losses.
“Furthermore, hopefully, it can be used for the victims to perform their Umrah worship as they had hoped. We will do our maximum effort to trace the assets and the flow of funds owned or managed by the Suspect.”