Yaqut's Side Explains Allegations of $1 Million US Preparation

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The legal team representing former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has refuted statements from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) concerning $1 million US dollars allegedly prepared by Yaqut for the DPR’s Special Committee on Hajj.

The legal team emphasised that there has never been any receipt or provision of money by their client, either directly or through intermediaries.

“We affirm that our client has never received money and has never provided money, either directly or through intermediaries,” the legal team for Yaqut stated in a letter received by Kompas.com on Thursday (30/4/2026).

“If there are certain parties claiming to have received or acted on instructions from our client regarding this matter, such statements are untrue and must be proven legally,” the team added.

Previously reported, the KPK seized $1 million US dollars in connection with the alleged corruption case involving Hajj quotas that implicates former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

KPK’s Acting Director of Investigation, Achmad Taufik Husein, stated that the money was allegedly prepared by Yaqut to influence the Special Committee (Pansus) on Hajj in the DPR.

“We have conducted examinations and subsequently carried out the seizure,” Taufik said at the Merah Putih Building in Jakarta on Monday (13/4/2026).

Based on examination results, the money had been received by ZA but had not yet been handed over to members of the DPR’s Special Committee on Hajj.

“The facts we uncovered confirm that there is indeed a witness named ZA who acted as an intermediary for delivering the money to Pansus members. Whether that $1 million USD had been received or used - from what we have investigated and documented in the minutes, it has not yet been utilised,” Taufik explained.