As of August 11, 2025, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has imposed a travel ban on Fuad Hasan Masyhur, founder of Maktour, due to alleged involvement in the Hajj quota corruption. Former Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and his special staff, Ishfah Abidal Aziz, are also banned from leaving the country for the next six months. Their roles in the case have not been disclosed to the public, however, since KPK is currently still in the early stages of investigation.
KPK announced the beginning of its investigation on August 9 after questioning Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (popularly known as Gus Yaqut) two days earlier. The Decree of the Minister of Religious Affairs No. 130 of 2024 regarding the distribution of additional Hajj quotas, signed by Gus Yaqut, is used as a piece of evidence. KPK is seeking new leads to figure out who gave the order for the distribution and who received the money from the quota corruption.
Asep Guntur Rahayu, Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK, told the media (12/08) that the ministerial decree cannot be used as the sole evidence of Gus Yaqut’s involvement in the corruption because there might be another minister who requested the decree and Gus Yaqut simply signed it. Either way, Asep emphasized that the distribution of additional Hajj quotas was not in line with the initial purpose as instructed by then-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The purpose was to reduce waiting time considering the long queue of Hajj pilgrims.
Furthermore, KPK also revealed that a meeting was held between the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Hajj travel association to discuss the allocations for regular and special Hajj quotas in 2024. It is suspected that the association requested for more than the maximum of 8% special Hajj quotas regulated in Law No. 8 of 2019 concerning the implementation of Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. Following the meeting, a ministerial decree signed by Gus Yaqut was issued, stating that the 20,000 additional quotas were divided fifty-fifty; 10,000 for regular Hajj and 10,000 for special Hajj.
As written in our previous article, KPK had earlier summoned Khalid Basalamah, founder of Hajj and Umrah travel agency Uhud Tour, on June 23 to give information regarding Hajj management in 2023-2024. At the time, spokesperson of KPK Budi Prasetyo said Khalid could provide an important piece of information to help develop the case, perhaps because of his position as the founder of a travel agency which had its share of special Hajj quotas. Khalid himself later clarified that he is not a suspect. And now, founder of another Hajj and Umrah travel agency, Fuad Hasan Mashyur has been banned from traveling abroad.
Maktour Travel was founded more than 30 years ago by Fuad Hasan Mashyur. From its official website, we can see that it offers a wide range of Umrah and Hajj packages, including the regular Hajj package starting from $33,000/person and the special Hajj package at $49,500/person. For the special Hajj package, pilgrims may also choose a business class plane ticket for an additional fee of $2,000. Maktour is also known as one of the biggest, most reputable travel agencies and the pioneer of premium Umrah and Hajj pilgrimages in Indonesia.
Fuad Hasan Masyhur is a Makassar-born businessman, also known as the Chairman of the Golkar Party Central Executive Board. He is the father-in-law of Dito Ariotedjo, the current Minister of Youth and Sports. Fuad currently serves as the President Commissioner of PT Kayu Meridian, manufacturer of hard and softwood products for export; and founder of PT Trinunggal Kharisma, a holding company which engages in the fields of energy, property, plantations (PT Menthobi Karyatama Raya Tbk), finance, transportation, travel (Maktour Travel), and advertising.
As you know, Fuad was once under the KPK investigation as a witness in the money laundering case implicating former Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo. Syahrul and his family were suspected to go on Umrah with Maktour. At the time, Fuad said Maktour only helped with ticket reservations for business class, thinking it was a request from the Ministry of Agriculture for a business trip. Although some might argue that his defense was not quite convincing, Maktour as mentioned above indeed offers an Umrah package with a business class plane ticket.
So, what is the correlation between Fuad Hasan Masyhur and the alleged corruption in the Ministry of Religious Affairs? What was his role in the case? For your information, Maktour Travel is a member of AMPHURI, the association of Indonesian Hajj and Umrah travel agencies. It was reported on August 5 that KPK summoned Muhammad Farid Aljawi, Secretary General of AMPHURI, along with the Chairman of Kesthuri (Kesatuan Travel Haji Umrah Indonesia) Asrul aziz for questioning. Could it be Maktour, and perhaps the other travel agencies, as a member of the association that requested for more than the maximum of 8% special Hajj quotas?
Asep Guntur Rahayu earlier said there might be more than 100 travel agencies possibly involved in the Hajj quota corruption between 2023 and 2024. Bigger travel agencies, he added, could be entitled to receive more quotas, while the smaller ones received less. By this logic, Maktour as one of the bigger travel agencies might therefore receive more quotas and reap more profits too. On the other hand, Chairman of the KPK Setyo Budiyanto mentioned only 10 travel agencies that are suspected to have benefitted the most by the fraudulent practices, but not all are big agencies. Some are considered medium-sized and even small.
Based on the most recent data released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in 2023, there are 528 Special Hajj Pilgrimage Organizers (PIHK); among the biggest are Al Hijaz Indowisata, Arminareka Perdana, ESQ Tours and Travel, Maktour, Maghfirah Travel, Nur Ramadhan Travel, Patuna Travel, Nava Tour, and Almira Travel. They have been in operations for years and offer various special Hajj packages. There is a possibility that KPK will summon the chairmen of these travel agencies next, but in the meantime we shall wait for further updates from KPK.
By Valerie Ardi