REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) summoned ex-director generals of Hajj and Umra Slamet Riyanto and Anggito Abimanyu as witnesses in a hajj fund graft case involving the suspect ex-religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali during 2012-2013.

"Both are being investigated for the suspect SDA (Suryadharma Ali)," KPK's Head of News and Information, Priharsa Nugraha, stated in Jakarta on Friday.

Besides Riyanto and Abimanyu, the KPK also investigated a ministry's employee, Sahlan Rosidi.

In this case, the KPK suspected some irregularities in the basic budget of the Hajj Board such as lodging and transportation for the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia worth up to Rp1 trillion.

Ali allegedly invited his family, friends, some officials from the religious affairs ministry and members of the House of Representatives to the pilgrimage. The quota should have been prioritized for the people who had been on the waiting list for several years.

The former minister was charged with Article 2, Paragraph (1) or Article 3 of Law No. 31/1999 as changed with Law No. 20/2001 on corruption eradication or Article 55, Paragraph (1) or Article 65 of the Criminal Code.

Suryadharma Ali resigned from his post on May 26, 2014. It was followed by the resignation of the director general for Hajj and Umrah on May 28.

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