Police identify new suspects in haj fund scandal

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

New high-ranking suspects would soon been announced in the Rp 700-billion haj fund scandal involving the Ministry of Religious Affairs, interdepartmental anticorruption commission head Hendarman Supandji said on Friday.

"Police are continuing their investigations and a number of new suspects in the case are expected to be declared in the near future," Hendarman told The Jakarta Post.

The National Police have been dealing with the high-profile case, and have already arrested former religious affairs minister Said Aqil Hussein Al-Munawwar and former Islamic guidance and haj management director-general Taufiq Kamil.

Said Agil and Taufiq are currently on trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on charges of embezzling state funds. They could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty.

Hendarman, also the deputy attorney general for crimes of fraud said several House of Representatives members, Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) officials and other government officials were also believed to have embezzled money.

Prosecutors told Said Aqil's trial on Thursday that some Rp 2.8 billion of the haj funds were used to pay BPK officials who audited the Haj Fund Management Agency (BPIH), around Rp 2 billion was spent on the foreign trips of legislators to monitor the haj program between 2001 and 2004, and more than Rp 11 billion was spent "improving the welfare" of civil servants at the religious affairs ministry.

Under a presidential decree, all benefits from Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, must be deposited under the Ummah Trust Fund (DAU) established to support Islamic education, poverty eradication and haj facility development.

Separately, National Police fraud squad director Brig. Gen. (Police) Indarto confirmed that his office was still studying the haj fund scam to determine new suspects.

"It is a major case and involves many people. The police are still determining those who will be declared new suspects," he said.

Indarto vowed the police would not discriminate in the case, saying naming new suspects should be based on objective criteria.

He said the police would coordinate with the anticorruption commission before announcing the names of new suspects to the public.

Hendarman said the interdepartmental anticorruption commission was also investigating graft cases in state-owned oil firm Pertamina, electricity company PT PLN, insurance firm PT Jamsostek, cement firm PT Pupuk Kaltim, the State Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health.

"The probes will be completed within two years," he said.