Hilman Latief Denies Receiving Funds in Hajj Quota Corruption Case

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Jakarta - Former Director of Hajj and Umrah Affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (PHU Kemenag), Hilman Latief, has denied allegations of receiving funds related to a hajj quota corruption case. ‘There is no money flow. Ask if any money went to Mr. Hilman? There isn’t. As for the corruption money in the hajj quota, ask – there has never been any. I have stopped responding to this. The media has been writing this for eight months, and I’ve remained silent,’ Hilman Latief said after performing Eid al-Adha prayers at the PP Muhammadiyah building in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (27 May 2026). Hilman said his family had been destroyed by the allegations. ‘My family has been shattered. My mother is devastated, my father had a stroke – everything. I don’t comment in the media, but the media keeps reporting it constantly. I even protested to the media: how can they use my name like this?’ Previously, on Wednesday (20 May 2026), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned Hilman Latief as a witness in the alleged hajj quota corruption case to confirm meetings between him and former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. ‘They were questioned about meetings with the minister and other officials regarding additional hajj quotas,’ said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo in Serang Regency, Banten, on Thursday (21 May 2026). The KPK also questioned Hilman Latief to investigate efforts by associations or hajj travel agencies to manage additional hajj quotas. The KPK began investigating the alleged corruption of Indonesia’s 2023-2024 hajj quotas on 9 August 2025. Subsequently, on 9 January 2026, the KPK named Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and Ishfah Abidal Aziz (Gus Alex), Yaqut’s special staff, as suspects in the alleged corruption case.