0 State suffers $438m in losses due to haj fund mismanagement: ICW

A new report from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) says that the alleged embezzlement of the haj fund overseen by the Religious Affairs Ministry caused state losses to the sum of US$438 million. The antigraft watchdog found the irregularities after comparing data from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) with the cost of traveling to and staying in the Holy Land. ICW researcher Firdaus Ilyas said on Wednesday that the total haj fund disbursed by the ministry between 2005 and 2011, according to the BPK report, was too high compared with the actual cost of flights and accommodation as compiled by ICW. 

Data from the BPK shows that between 2005 and 2011, the ministry disbursed $4.7 billion when, in fact, the actual cost to run the operation was around $4.3 billion. “This means that there is $438 million that is not accounted for,” he told The Jakarta Post. Firdaus alleged that officials at the ministry had embezzled the haj funds using a simple method, not unlike the one deployed by “the tax office mafia.” “It’s simple, they just report higher spending than the actual amount disbursed. On the other hand, they also report a lower amount of revenue for haj fund management,” he said. 

The ministry’s new directorate general for haj and minor pilgrimage affairs, Anggito Abimanyu, denied the accusation. He said that there had been no irregularities in the disbursement of the haj fund as it had been approved by the House of Representatives. “The fund disbursement had been approved by the House. And also we had to take into account the adjustment that had to be made with regard to efficiency and deviations,” he said. Anggito also said that the disbursement of the fund had been audited by internal and external auditors. 

“Nevertheless, I am happy to hear input from them [ICW] about calculating the fund disbursement,” he said. The ministry’s inspector general, M Jasin, said that he currently oversaw an internal audit on haj fund management. “Of course, we have our own internal method to audit the fund’s disbursement. But we deal with problems where we can’t find the individuals responsible for supplying the data,” he said, adding that the ministry officials were often abroad or out of town. Earlier, two agencies had pointed to the possible embezzlement of the haj fund. 

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has reported many irregularities in the fund’s management over the past eight years. In its 2012 year-end report, the PPATK announced that the ministry had managed Rp 80 trillion ($8.29 billion) in total haj funds, which generated Rp 2.3 trillion in interest that was entirely deposited in a single bank account without a clear set of guidelines. 

The PPATK’s report supported the ICW’s allegation that the interest had been used to pay for unrelated spending, including the purchase of stationery, the haj service’s ISO standardization, or incentives for the ministry’s staffers. The Religious Affairs Ministry is ranked at the bottom of a list of 22 government institutions in the KPK’s 2012 integrity survey. The ministry received a score of 5.37 out of a possible 10 points. The average score was set at 6.00.

source : the jakarta post