“It’s just a matter of time,” KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto told reporters at the Ministry of Law office in Jakarta on Monday.
He emphasized that there were no major obstacles in the investigation. The delay in naming suspects, he explained, was due to the KPK’s ongoing efforts to summon and question several witnesses to complete the case.
“The investigators still need to finalize the case files and continue the process. There are no other issues,” he said.
Budiyanto also revealed that the KPK has already received the return of funds totaling tens of billions of rupiah from travel agencies and hajj associations allegedly involved in the case.
“In total, it may not have reached hundreds of billions yet, but tens of billions—possibly approaching one hundred billion,” he noted.
When asked to identify the parties who had returned the funds, Budiyanto said he had not yet received detailed information from his team.
However, he assured the public that the KPK remains committed to pursuing asset recovery to the fullest extent.
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“We will definitely pursue it as far as possible, especially if there is information about assets—whether movable or immovable—that are part of this case,” he underlined.
The KPK officially launched its investigation on August 9, 2025, after questioning former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas two days earlier as part of the preliminary inquiry.
At that time, the KPK said it was coordinating with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to calculate state financial losses in the hajj quota case.
By August 11, the KPK announced that preliminary calculations showed state losses exceeding Rp1 trillion (approximately US$60.2 million). It also imposed travel bans on three individuals, including former Minister Yaqut.
On September 18, the KPK alleged that 13 associations and 400 hajj travel agencies were involved in the corruption scheme.
The case has also drawn scrutiny from the Indonesian House of Representatives. A special parliamentary inquiry, Pansus Angket Haji, earlier reported finding irregularities in the organization of the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.
The main issue highlighted by the committee was the 50-50 allocation of the additional 20,000 Hajj quotas granted by the Government of Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Religious Affairs divided the additional quota equally: 10,000 for regular pilgrims and 10,000 for special or premium pilgrims.
This distribution, however, conflicted with Article 64 of Law No. 8/2019 on Hajj and Umrah Administration, which mandates that only 8 percent of the total quota be allocated to special Hajj services, with the remaining 92 percent reserved for regular pilgrims.
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Translator: Rio/Fath, Kuntum Khaira
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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