First Travel bosses Andika Surachman and Anniesa Hasibuan were sentenced to 20 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respectively. They were ordered to pay Rp 10 billion (US$714,643) in fines.
A district court in West Java has handed out lengthy prison sentences to two travel agency bosses convicted of cheating clients.
First Travel bosses Andika Surachman and Anniesa Hasibuan were sentenced to 20 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respectively. They were ordered to pay Rp 10 billion (US$714,643) in fines.
The Jakarta Post reported that Andika and Anniesa were behind a scam amounting to Rp 848 billion from 56,682 would-be pilgrims, who had bought umrah tour packages from First Travel.
The pair was charged with fraud and money laundering.
Earlier, First Travel manager Siti Nuraida Hasibuan, or Kiki, had been sentenced to 18 years in prison and Rp 5 billion in fines.
The First Travel case has brought swift action from government authorities who will more closely monitor agencies that organise haj and umrah (minor haj) tours. to assure the agencies operate in line with prevailing regulations.
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said all travel agencies organising haj and umrah tours are required to state all promised facilities to their customers, including the name of all hotels and flight numbers.
The development of the monitoring system is being carried out following numerous complaints lodged against travel agencies by customers.