Said wants other ex-ministers summoned over haj graft

Said wants other ex-ministers summoned over haj graft

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In an apparent move to shift the blame, former religious affairs
minister Said Agil Hussein Al-Munawar, who has been named a
suspect in a haj fund scandal, demanded that his two predecessors
also be questioned over the case.

Through his lawyer Ayuk Fadlun Sahab, Said said the graft
investigation should not focus on him alone but also two other
former religious affairs ministers, Tarmidzi Taher and Tolchah
Hasan, in order to ensure a comprehensive probe.

Ayuk was quoted by the detikcom news portal as saying that the
misuse of haj funds started long before Said became the religious
affairs minister under the Megawati Soekarnoputri administration.

In a related development, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) suspended Said
as a member of its central board after he was declared a suspect
in the graft case.

"As he (Said) has been declared a suspect, Pak Said will no
longer be permitted remain at his post in the NU," Saeful Bahri
Ansori, a deputy NU secretary-general, said quoting NU chairman
Hasyim Muzadi.

Apart from Said, the interdepartmental antigraft team also
named Director General for Islamic Guidance and Haj Management
Taufiq Kamil as a suspect for his alleged role in the misuse of
Rp 684 billion (US$72 million) collected from pilgrims.

Taufiq was questioned throughout Friday. As of 9 p.m., the
questioning was still underway. It was rumored that he would be
detained soon.

Under the relevant legislation, haj pilgrimage funds must be
kept in one account and used for the benefit of pilgrims during
their stay in Saudi Arabia.

But the investigation showed that the funds had been deposited
in a number of bank accounts, some of which had no connection
with the annual pilgrimage.

"We have found that the suspects abused their powers in
managing the funds, such as withdrawing money from the accounts
for their own enrichment," said the head of the interdepartmental
antigraft team, Hendarman Supandji.

He said that the suspects were also involved in illegal
markups in connection with religious affairs ministry programs
using the haj funds.

"We have also found that the money was lent to a number of
borrowers but the loans were never repaid," Hendarman said.

Based on the preliminary investigation, the National Police
decided to freeze the bank accounts concerned.

However, Hendarman could not specify the exact amount of the
state losses that may have been inflicted as the Development
Finance Controller (BPKP) was still auditing the accounts.

However, he said that the state could have lost more than Rp
700 billion.

Hendarman said there were also indications that the haj fee of
up to Rp 25 million per pilgrim exceeded the real cost of the
pilgrimage, adding that the additional funds generated in this
way had been deposited in a number of obscure accounts.

According to Hendarman, Said Agil will be questioned on
Tuesday but the decision on whether or not to detain him would
depend on the results of the questioning.

"More suspects will be named soon as the case involved many
officials at the ministry as well as people outside the
government," Hendarman said.