Strategic Role of Maktour Boss Fuad Hasan Masyhur in Hajj Quota Case

The KPK has unveiled the involvement of Maktour owner Fuad Hasan Masyhur in an alleged corruption case concerning the misallocation of hajj quotas that has implicated former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. Fuad is suspected of acting as a lobbyist to influence policy so that additional hajj quotas would be allocated extensively for special hajj operations.

Deputy for Prosecution and Execution at the KPK, Asep Guntur Rahayu, explained that the matter originated in May 2023. At that time, Indonesia received an additional 8,000 hajj quotas. Although Parliament had agreed to allocate these quotas for regular hajj pilgrims, Fuad, in his capacity as Chairman of the Steering Board of the SATHU Forum, sent a letter to the Religious Affairs Minister requesting an allocation for private hajj travel operators.

This lobbying continued through the 2024 hajj season, where an agreement was reached to divide quotas 50:50 between regular and special hajj pilgrims from a total of 20,000 additional quotas. This policy was deemed to violate Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimage.

KPK investigators discovered indications of funds flowing from several Special Hajj Implementation Organisers (PIHK) to officials at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, with requested fees ranging between unspecified amounts.

The KPK stated that total state losses in this case reached Rp622 billion. To date, investigators continue to examine whether Fuad Hasan Masyhur will follow Yaqut as a suspect based on the sufficiency of evidence currently being collected.

Maktour’s boss’s involvement in this case has drawn attention due to his proximity to policymakers at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The KPK has affirmed that it will continue to pursue other actors who benefited from the misuse of hajj quotas that should have been the right of the general public.