KPK Advances Corruption Investigation into Hajj Quota, New Clusters to Be Announced Soon
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has confirmed that the investigation into alleged corruption in the organisation and distribution of Hajj quotas at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) is continuing to progress. The anti-corruption agency is now targeting new clusters outside the four suspects already named.
“Because if we look back at the case’s construction, it will continue to develop,” said KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo at the KPK’s Red and White Building in South Jakarta on Wednesday (1/4).
Tracing Vital Roles and Fund Flows
Although details of the investigation development plan have not been specified, Budi revealed that the investigative team has mapped out the involvement of other parties in this scandal.
The investigators’ main focus currently is to delve into the roles of officials, private entities, and Hajj travel associations. “There are still other clusters that will be explored and investigated by the investigators,” said Budi.
The investigators are also tracking fund flows to dissect how the lobbying processes for quota distribution occurred, both before and after the discretionary policy was issued.
“What are the vital roles played in the initial pre-discretionary process for additional Hajj quota distribution, or post-discretionary,” said Budi.
Case Construction and Rule Violations
This case stems from allegations of manipulation in the distribution of an additional 20,000 Hajj seats allocated to Indonesia. According to regulations, these additional quotas should have been allocated proportionally:
However, in practice, the suspects are alleged to have divided the quota unilaterally with a 50:50 composition. This imbalance is strongly suspected to have created opportunities for transactional practices.
Current List of Suspects:
To date, the KPK has named four individuals as main suspects, namely:
In the process of gathering evidence, the KPK has examined several high-ranking Kemenag officials as well as private parties from travel service providers, including Ustaz Khalid Basalamah who was questioned as a witness. (Can/P-2)
That meeting is strongly suspected to have triggered the birth of the discretionary policy for equal distribution of additional quotas.
The KPK has extended the detention period of the former Minister of Religious Affairs for the next 40 days.
The KPK detains Gus Alex in connection with Hajj quota corruption. Although he denies orders from Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the KPK states that Gus Alex represents the minister in collecting funds.
The KPK has requested the Directorate General of Immigration to extend the detention of former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and former Special Staff Isfan Abidal Aziz in connection with alleged corruption in Hajj quota distribution.
The KPK has extended the travel ban on Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and Gus Alex in the alleged Hajj quota corruption case until August 2026.
That meeting is strongly suspected to have triggered the birth of the discretionary policy for equal distribution of additional quotas.
KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said that 393,922 reports have been received out of a total of 431,785 mandatory reporting parties (WL).
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