Court: Gus Alex Confirms $400,000 Payment to Indonesian Parliament’s Hajj Committee

A court hearing in Jakarta has placed a reported US$400,000 payment at the center of the alleged corruption case involving Indonesia’s additional Hajj quota for 2023 and 2024.

During a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court’s Corruption Court, defendant Ishfah Abidal Azis, also known as Gus Alex, questioned former Nahdlatul Ulama executive staffer Syaiful Bahri about money that was allegedly delivered to the House of Representatives’ Hajj Committee. The hearing took place on Tuesday night, Sept. 1.

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At that time I did not know, sir. But a few days later I asked you who it actually was, and only then did you tell me.

Ishfah asked whether he had instructed Bahri to meet a person named Erik and hand over US$400,000 at the request of Zaenal Abidin, whom Ishfah described as a friend of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid. Bahri said he did not initially know the purpose of the payment. He said Ishfah later told him that Zaenal had requested the money and that it should be passed through Erik.

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Yes.

The hearing also addressed money entrusted by Asrul Azis Taba, chairman of the Kesthuri Association and a commissioner at PT Raudah Eksati Utama. Bahri had previously testified that some of those funds were intended for Ishfah, but that the money was later described as being for the Hajj Committee, which Nusron chaired. Bahri said he did not hand the money to Ishfah. He testified that when he raised the issue, Ishfah told him to see whether it could be returned.

Ishfah, former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and Maktour operations director Ismail Adham are defendants in the case. Nusron’s name also arose during the proceedings. An investigative audit by Indonesia’s Audit Board estimated state losses at Rp622.090 billion in the alleged corruption case.

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No, because when we told him at that time, his answer was, 'Contact them to see whether it can be returned.'