JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – The Chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Abraham Samad confirmed on Wednesday that KPK has found sufficient evidences to name suspects in the graft case of the haj pilgrimage fund managed under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Abraham said that in the near future KPK will tomorrow determine the time to announce the suspects.

KPK had last month kicked off a preliminary investigation into allegations of managerial irregularities of the haj pilgrimage fund under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Latest, KPK summoned Anggito Abimanyu, Director General for the haj and minor haj (locally called as umrah) at the Religious Affairs’s Ministry, questioned as witness in the case.

The alleged irregularities in haj pilgrimage fund management emerged last year after the Anti-Money Laundering Agency PPATK disclosed its findings. Based on audit report, PPATK found mismanagement of Rp80 trillion haj pilgrimage fund for 2004-2012 period.

PPATK Chairman Muhammad Yusuf also questioned about poor haj facilities provided by the Government which is not worth compared to the haj pilgrimage cost paid by each Indonesian pilgrim.

In 2012, each of the total 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims paid Rp33.3 million (US$3,617). Malaysian pilgrims only paid Rp29.9 million (US$3,094) but they received better services and facilities from the government. (haryantos@yosefardi.biz)