Director General for Hajj Resigns Amid Graft Claims
The Jakarta Globe, May 31, 2014
Antigraft officials have denied naming Anggito Abimanyu, the director general for the hajj, a suspect in an ongoing investigation into embezzlement of the hajj fund, following his resignation on Friday to focus on what he called “legal matters.”
“I received a report from the Religious Affairs Ministry at 11 a.m. today that Anggito has handed in his resignation as director general, effective today,” Agung Laksono, the chief welfare minister and acting religious affairs minister, said on Friday.
The letter cited Anggito’s need to focus on unspecified “possible legal matters.”
The move comes just over a week after the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, named Suryadharma Ali, the minister at the time, a suspect for the alleged embezzlement of funds for sending pilgrims to the hajj in 2012 and 2013, and for abuse of power in gifting free hajj slots — for which ordinary pilgrims must wait an average of 12 years — to political cronies.
Anggito and his wife are alleged to have been among those who received a free trip last year at the expense of ordinary Indonesians who have to deposit Rp 34 million ($2,900) each to go on the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage.
Anggito was widely expected to be named a suspect after Suryadharma, who resigned on Wednesday, but KPK officials said he remained a witness in the case as of Friday.
“He is not yet a suspect. We are deepening our investigation,” Abraham Samad, the KPK chairman, said in a text message to the Jakarta Globe.
Bambang Widjojanto, a KPK deputy chairman, said separately that antigraft investigators had not requested an international travel ban against Anggito from the immigration department, which usually comes in tandem with the order to name an individual a suspect.
“As far as I know there hasn’t been [a travel ban request] yet,” he said in a text message.
However, the KPK has hinted that Anggito will follow in Suryadharma’s path, saying investigators were working their way down the ministry’s hierarchy.
“There’s obviously been a violation” by Anggito in the management of the hajj funds, according to Adnan Pandu Praja, another KPK deputy chairman.
“Usually we work from the bottom up. This time we’re working from the top down. So he’ll definitely get caught,” Adnan said on Wednesday.
Antigraft activists have also called for Anggito to be named a suspect.
“In a case where the minister is alleged to be involved, it’s reasonable to assume that those under him were also involved,” Ade Irawan, the coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Monday.
“The main department dealing with the management of the hajj is the Directorate General for the Hajj,” he added.
More than 200,000 Indonesians make the hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia each year — a mammoth logistical challenge that falls under the purview of the Religious Affairs Ministry.
The hajj fund, comprised of the deposits that all pilgrims are required to make, topped Rp 67 trillion at the end of 2013, and has long been identified by antigraft activists as a prime target for embezzlement, given its sheer size and the lack of transparency surrounding its management.
The minister since 2009, Suryadharma’s personal wealth spiked by Rp 7 billion after three years in office — far higher than his monthly take-home pay of around Rp 20 million a month could possibly account for, according to official wealth reports, or LHKPN, filed with the KPK in 2009 and 2012.
The current case is not without precedent: in 2006, Said Agil Husin Al Munawar, the religious affairs minister from 2001 to 2004, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling some Rp 276 billion from the fund.
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za 31 mei 2014 - 2:30