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View all search resultsPolice name suspects in haj passport scam
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East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf (second left) and Pasuruan Regent Irsyad Yusuf (left) talk to a family member of a would-be haj pilgrim who was cheated by a syndicate in the Philippines on Aug. 25, whereby 177 Indonesians failed to depart to Saudi Arabia. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)
T
he National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department has named seven people suspected of illegally sending 177 Indonesian pilgrims on the haj via the Philippines, a police spokesman has said.
“The investigators will determine whether or not the police will summon or arrest [the suspects] in the near future," police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told a press conference on Friday at the National Police headquarters, adding that the suspects were from five travel agencies, one of which was in the Philippines.
According to police, two suspects were the owners of Ramana Tour, which sent 38 pilgrims, while one suspect from Travel Tazkyah is believed to have coordinated 21 pilgrims, two suspects from Shafwah travel agency sent 24 people and another suspect from Hade El Badr Tour sent 12 people. Police also identified a Philippines-based travel agent with the initials MNA, who sent 65 pilgrims on the haj.
Boy said the police estimated that victims had lost over Rp 17 billion (US$1.3 million), with the maximum punishment for the suspects being 12 years in prison.
Of the would-be pilgrims, 168 people were returned home by the Indonesian Embassy in Manila on Sunday after being caught illegally holding Philippine passports on their way to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to undertake the haj. Nine remaining pilgrims are still in the Philippines awaiting further investigations. (wnd/dan)
