Two directors of an Indonesian travel agency specialising in Muslim religious travel have been arrested and accused of fraud on an epic scale.
Up to 35,000 clients of agency First Travel may be out of pocket after paying for umrah packages to the Middle East that never materialised.
"In total, there were 70,000 would-be pilgrims who have paid. But only 35,000 have embarked on umrah, while the agency has just given the remainder various reasons for them not having been able to depart until now," Herry Rudolf Nahak, general crimes director at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency said.
First Travel president director Andika Surachman and his wife fellow director Anniesa Desvitasari Hasibuan were arrested and are being held pending further investigations.
The couple were arrested at the offices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs after asking for their operating license not to be revoked.
The agency offered a variety of umrah packages costing between US$1,000 and nearly US$5,000.
Herry said the police were first alerted after the agency’s own staff made complaints of potential criminal activity.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation has asked the government to step in and help clients left out of pocket.
"The Financial Services Authority and the Religious Affairs Ministry have to try their best to ensure that these customers are helped," the foundation’s executive chairman Tulus Abadi said.
"We appreciate the efforts of the law enforcement institutions in relation to this case, although it’s actually too late, because there are so many victims already," Tulus said.
The consumer foundation said it had already received 18,000 complaints from First Travel customers.
