KPK Reveals Reason for Summoning PBNU Staff with Initials SB in Hajj Quota Case

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed one reason for summoning a staff member of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) with initials SB to serve as a witness in the alleged corruption case involving the hajj quota, as the individual’s testimony is required by investigators. “The testimony from Mr SB is needed to provide explanations to the investigators, thereby helping to strengthen the evidence already obtained,” stated KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to journalists in Jakarta on Wednesday. Thus, Budi said, SB’s witness statement could illuminate the hajj quota case clearly. SB was previously summoned as a witness by the KPK on 21 April 2026, but the individual failed to comply with the call. Earlier, on 9 August 2025, the KPK initiated an investigation into the alleged corruption in 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 designated as a suspect, despite previously being banned from leaving the country. The KPK then received the audit results from the Financial Audit Board (BPK) of Indonesia on 27 February 2026, which indicated state financial losses in the case amounting 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 Operations Director Ismail Adham and Chairman of the Indonesian Hajj and Umrah Travel Agency Association (Kesthuri) Asrul Aziz Taba.