KPK: Fuad Hasan wrote to Yaqut seeking additional 2023 hajj quota of 8,000

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has disclosed that Fuad Hasan Masyhur (FHM) sent a letter to Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ) requesting an allocation of 8,000 additional hajj quotas for the 2023 Islamic year (1444 Hijriah).

Fuad serves as board chairman of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Travel Agencies (SATHU) forum and is the owner of hajj operator Maktour, whilst Yaqut held the position of Religious Affairs Minister at that time.

“FHM, as board chairman of the SATHU forum, sent a letter to YCQ with the objective of maximising the absorption of additional quotas. So, from the travel groups (hajj operators, ed.) in this forum, one of them, the SATHU Forum, sent a letter and wanted to maximise absorption of those quotas,” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

Asep stated that Fuad subsequently communicated with Hilman Latief (HL), then Director General of Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimage Organisation at the Religious Affairs Ministry, regarding readiness to maximise the 2023 additional hajj quota.

“HL then proposed to YCQ that the additional hajj quota be divided into 92 per cent regular quota and eight per cent special quota,” he said.

According to him, this proposal contradicted the working meeting of Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives with the Religious Affairs Minister in early May 2023, which had agreed that all additional hajj quotas should be allocated to regular hajj.

“YCQ subsequently approved the proposal by issuing Religious Affairs Ministry Decision Number 467 of 2023 on 19 May 2023, concerning the determination of the 2023 additional hajj quota with a composition of 7,360 quotas for regular hajj and 640 quotas for special hajj,” he said.

He further stated that Commission VIII of the House of Representatives held another working meeting with Yaqut and agreed to adjust the allocation.

Following this, he said the Director General Decision on Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimage Organisation for 2023 was issued, eventually resulting in an instruction to collect acceleration fees for special hajj category T0 or TX, which allowed prospective pilgrims to bypass the queue at a cost of USD 5,000 or approximately Rp84 million at the current exchange rate.

Asep stated that based on KPK’s investigation, it was found that these acceleration fees flowed to Yaqut, Ishfah Abidal Aziz serving as Yaqut’s special staff, and several other officials at the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Previously, on 9 August 2025, the KPK announced the launch of an investigation into suspected corruption related to Indonesia’s hajj quota allocation for 2023-2024.

On 11 August 2025, the KPK announced preliminary calculations of state losses in the case had reached over Rp1 trillion, and imposed travel restrictions on three individuals for six months. The three restricted individuals were Yaqut, Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IAA) alias Gus Alex, Yaqut’s special staff, and Fuad Hasan Masyhur, owner of hajj operator Maktour.

On 9 January 2026, the KPK announced that two of the three restricted individuals had become suspects in the alleged hajj quota corruption case: Yaqut and Gus Alex.

However, Yaqut filed a request for judicial review of his designation as a suspect with the South Jakarta District Court on 10 February 2026, registered under case number 19/Pid.Pra/2026/PN JKT.SEL.

On 19 February 2026, the KPK announced an extension of the travel restriction for only Yaqut and Gus Alex. Fuad’s restriction was not extended.

On 27 February 2026, the KPK announced that it had received an audit from the State Audit Board (BPK) regarding the state financial losses arising from the hajj quota case. Subsequently, on 4 March 2026, the KPK announced that state financial losses from the case totalled Rp622 billion.

On 11 March 2026, the panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court rejected Yaqut’s judicial review request.

On 12 March 2026, the KPK detained Yaqut at the State Detention Facility Branch of the KPK’s Red and White Building.