Indonesian court jails First Travel bosses over umrah tour package scam

Suspecta: Umrah scam defendants First Travel president director Andika Surachman (left) and his wife Anniesa Hasibuan (second right), who also serves as director at the company, and finance manager Siti Nuraida Hasibuan (second left) prepare to leave the Depok District Court after a hearing on May 16. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)

JAKARTA: The Depok District Court in West Java has sentenced First Travel bosses Andika Surachman and Anniesa Hasibuan to 20 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respectively.

In a hearing on Wednesday morning, the judges also ordered Andika and Anniesa to pay Rp10bil (approximately RM2.9mil) in fines.

“The defendants face an additional eight months in prison as an alternative if they refuse to pay the fine,” the judges said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Andika and Anniesa are the main suspects in a scam amounting to Rp848bil (RM240mil) from 56,682 would-be pilgrims, who had bought umrah tour packages from First Travel.

Offering a cheap package for the minor haj at Rp14.3mil, the defendants had promised to send the umrah hopefuls to Mecca a year after they paid the fee.

Both defendants were charged under articles 378 and 55 of the Criminal Code on fraud and Article 3 of Law No. 8/2010 on money laundering.

On May 7, First Travel manager Siti Nuraida Hasibuan, or Kiki, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and Rp5bil in fines or another year in prison. – The Jakarta Post/ ANN