Khalid Basalamah unaware of fund flows in hajj quota case to Ministry of Religious Affairs officials

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Preacher and owner of the hajj travel agency PT Zahra Oto Mandiri or Uhud Tour, Khalid Zeed Abdullah Basalamah, has claimed ignorance regarding any flow of funds in the alleged corruption case of the hajj quota to officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag). “I don’t know,” said Khalid after being examined by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a witness in the hajj quota case at the KPK’s Red and White Building, Jakarta, on Thursday. Furthermore, Khalid stated that he did not receive any benefits from the hajj quota case. “My name is registered as a pilgrim with PT Muhibbah, and we have handed over all that information to the KPK,” he said. Therefore, as chairman of the association Majelis Utama Travel Indonesia Arahan Haji dan Umrah (Mutiara Haji), he claims to be only a victim in the hajj quota case currently being investigated by the KPK. Specifically, he claims to be a victim of the owner of the hajj travel agency PT Muhibbah based in Pekanbaru, Riau, namely Ibnu Mas’ud. “Originally, PT Zahra was purely for furoda; we had already paid for the hotel there and the visa, but then PT Muhibbah came offering it under the pretext of an official visa. That’s why we all registered with PT Muhibbah, and we have handed over all that data to the KPK. My name is also with PT Muhibbah,” said Khalid. He continued, “When we had obtained the visas and departed, we thought it was from PT Muhibbah. So, we only went that far. We never knew about the Ministry of Religious Affairs issues, its staff—we never interacted with them at all. Therefore, I would say we are victims.” Previously, on 9 August 2025, the KPK initiated an investigation into the alleged corruption case of Indonesia’s hajj quota for 2023-2024. On 9 January 2026, the KPK named former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and Ishfah Abidal Aziz alias Gus Alex as suspects. Meanwhile, Fuad Hasan Masyhur, owner of the hajj organiser Maktour, was not named as a suspect, although he was once banned from leaving the country. The KPK then received the audit results from the Financial Audit Board (BPK) of Indonesia on 27 February 2026, stating that the state financial loss in the case amounted to Rp622 billion. Subsequently, on 12 March 2026, the KPK detained Yaqut at the KPK’s Red and White Building State Detention House branch, followed by the detention of Ishfah on 17 March 2026. The KPK temporarily changed Yaqut’s detention status to house arrest on 19 March 2026 at the family’s request, but re-detained him at the KPK Detention House on 24 March 2026. On 30 March 2026, the KPK named two new suspects: Maktour’s Operational Director Ismail Adham and Chairman of the Indonesian Hajj and Umrah Travel Unity (Kesthuri) Asrul Aziz Taba.