Ade Ridwan Yandwiputra, Jakarta – Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is facing various challenges in determining the status of the suspects in the hajj quota corruption case. One of the challenges is examining the 400 or so hajj organizing agencies.
"This case involves approximately 400 travel agencies," said Acting Deputy for Law Enforcement and Execution of the KPK, Asep Guntur Rahayu, at the Merah Putih Building on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
According to Asep, the examination of travel agencies takes a long time because each agency receives a different quota. The KPK needs to seek clarification from them to shed light on this case. He acknowledged that the investigation has made many people impatient and urged the KPK to announce the suspects soon. "We do not want to make hasty decisions. We must be very firm," he said.
The alleged deviation in the allocation of hajj quotas originated from the findings of the Special Committee for the Inquiry into Hajj of the House of Representatives (DPR). The committee was formed after the DPR Hajj Monitoring Team found several issues in the implementation of the hajj in 2023-2024. One of them was the Minister of Religious Affairs' decision to evenly distribute an additional quota of 20,000 for special hajj and regular hajj.
However, Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Organization of Hajj and Umrah stipulates a distribution of 92:8 percent. Later, the KPK detected signs of corruption. The distribution of additional quotas was allegedly sold for special hajj services. Part of the profits from the quota sales is suspected to have flowed to several officials of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs. The estimated value of losses resulting from this scandal is around Rp1 trillion.
Asep stated that in this case, the hajj travel agencies were the ones who benefited. The hajj quotas they obtained were larger than the allocation set by the law. The involvement of the former Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, in this case has also been clarified by Asep. However, he wants to ensure who else benefited from the misappropriation of hajj quotas. "We do not want to rush," he added.