Travel Agency Profit Becomes Indicator of State Financial Losses. The profits obtained by travel agencies who depart pilgrims with special quotas for the implementation of the hajj in 2024 serve as an indicator of calculation for the state’s financial losses. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) noted that there were 13 associations with 400 travel agencies involved in organizing the pilgrimage in that year. Based on KPK’s initial calculations, the state losses in the alleged corruption case of additional hajj quotas for 2023-2024 reached more than Rp1 trillion. This finding will be further coordinated with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
KPK’s Acting Deputy of Enforcement and Execution, Asep Guntur Rahayu, stated, “The concept of calculating state financial losses will also consider the profits of travel agencies and other parties obtained from state facilities.” He explained that the special hajj quotas were essentially brokered, either by travel agencies to prospective pilgrims or from one travel agency to another. KPK suspects there is a flow of money from travel agencies to the Ministry of Religious Affairs related to the distribution of these special hajj quotas. Despite the multitude of travel agencies, investigators still need a lot of time to trace the flow of money in the buying and selling of these special hajj quotas. These two factors have led KPK to be cautious and not rush to designate suspects.
During the ongoing investigation, KPK revealed that an employee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs allegedly offered special hajj quotas to the owner of PT Zahra Oto Mandiri (Uhud Tour), Khalid Zeed Abdullah Basalamah. Khalid, along with around one hundred Uhud Tour pilgrims, had originally registered for the furoda hajj program in 2024. However, the Ministry of Religious Affairs employee came to offer special hajj quotas. This employee also promised Khalid that he could depart in the same year, but a sum of money was requested as an acceleration fee.
Additionally, in handling this case, KPK has prohibited three individuals from traveling abroad for six months. They include former Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, his special staff Ishfah Abidal Aziz, and the owner of the travel agency Maktour Travel, Fuad Hasan Masyhur. KPK has also conducted searches on various locations such as Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, hajj and umrah travel agency offices in Jakarta, Ministry of Religious Affairs ASN homes in Depok, and the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) office at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Many pieces of evidence allegedly related to the case have been seized, including documents, Electronic Evidence Items (BBE), four-wheeled vehicles, and properties. Furthermore, when searching the Maktour office, KPK suspected that some evidence was removed.
