KPK: Maktour Boss Wrote to Yaqut to Obtain Additional Haj Quota
Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has revealed that the owner of Makassar Toraja haj travel operator (Maktour), Fuad Hasan Masyhur, wrote to former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to obtain an additional allocation of haj quotas.
According to the case construction presented by the KPK, the incident began in May 2023 when the Saudi Arabian Government provided Indonesia with an additional 8,000 haj pilgrim quotas.
Following the additional quota allocation, Fuad, in his capacity as Board Member of the Forum for Silaturahmi of the Association of Haj and Umrah Travel Operators (SATHU), sent a letter to Yaqut to “maximise absorption of the additional haj quota” provided by Saudi Arabia to Indonesia.
“Fuad Hasan Masyhur, as Board Member of the SATHU Forum—which is an association of haj travel operators with various forums—sent a letter to Yaqut aimed at maximising absorption of the additional quota,” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu during a press conference at KPK headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday evening, 12 March.
Additionally, Asep stated that Fuad also communicated with the Director General of Haj and Umrah Implementation at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Hilman Latief, regarding the letter and the travel operator associations’ readiness to absorb the additional quota.
Following this communication, Hilman Latief proposed to Yaqut that the additional haj quota be divided with a composition of 92 per cent for regular haj and 8 per cent for special haj.
This proposal was subsequently approved by Yaqut through the issuance of Religious Affairs Minister Decree Number 467 of 2023. Based on this decree, of the total 8,000 additional quotas, 7,360 were allocated for regular haj pilgrims, whilst the remaining 640 quotas were given for special haj pilgrims.
Under this policy, regulations regarding special haj pilgrim departures were relaxed on the orders of Ishfah Abidal Aziz (IAA), also known as Gus Alex, who served as a special staff member to Yaqut.
This relaxation allowed pilgrims who had only recently registered to depart for haj in the same year or without adhering to queue numbers.
Subsequently, Rizky Fida Abadi, former Head of the Special Haj Sub-division for Licensing, Accreditation, and Development at the Religious Affairs Ministry, through his staff, collected acceleration fees amounting to 5,000 US dollars, or approximately Rp84.4 million, for each pilgrim wishing to obtain accelerated departure.
These fees are suspected to have flowed to Yaqut, Gus Alex, and several officials at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
“Based on the results of the KPK investigation, Rizky Fida Abadi also provided these acceleration fees to Yaqut, Gus Alex, and several officials at the Religious Affairs Ministry,” said Asep.
In this case, Yaqut and Gus Alex have been designated by the KPK as suspects. Yaqut has already been detained by the KPK for the first 20 days. The KPK has scheduled to summon Gus Alex next week.
At the time of writing, official statements regarding the KPK press conference had not yet been obtained.
Fuad Hasan was previously examined by the KPK as a witness in the case. The KPK had also prevented the Maktour Chief Executive Officer from leaving the country. However, the KPK did not extend the travel ban for Maktour Chief Executive Officer Fuad Hasan Masyhur, which expired in February, as he remains in the status of a witness.
Searches
During the ongoing investigation, the KPK has conducted searches at various locations including Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, offices of haj and umrah travel operators in Jakarta, residences of Religious Affairs Ministry civil servants in Depok, and offices of the Directorate General of Haj and Umrah Implementation at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Numerous items of evidence suspected to be related to the case have been seized, including documents, electronic evidence, vehicles, and property.
Based on calculations by the State Audit Board (BPK), the state is said to have suffered losses of Rp622.090.207.166,41 (Rp622 billion) from the alleged corruption case involving additional haj quotas for the 2023 and 2024 implementation years.