The long-standing legal saga of the First Travel Umrah scam has entered a critical new phase following the Indonesian Supreme Court\u2019s decision to grant a Judicial Review (PK) filed by the company\u2019s founders, Andika Surachman and Anniesa Hasibuan. In response to this landmark ruling, which mandates that assets previously seized by the state be returned to the victims rather than being forfeited to the national treasury, the affected pilgrims are now calling on the Indonesian government to immediately establish a specialized task force. This team would be responsible for conducting a comprehensive inventory of all remaining assets and ensuring a fair and transparent distribution process for the tens of thousands of individuals who lost their life savings in the fraudulent scheme.<\/p>\n
Fadjar Panjaitan, one of the many victims who has spent years seeking justice, emphasized the necessity of government intervention to manage the logistical complexities of the asset return. Speaking on Thursday, January 5, 2023, Panjaitan highlighted that the Supreme Court’s decision requires extreme precision in execution to prevent further victimization. He argued that without a formal government-led inventory team, the process of identifying, valuing, and distributing assets could become chaotic, potentially leaving many victims without their rightful share of the restitution.<\/p>\n
The core of the victims’ concern lies in the sheer scale of the fraud. First Travel, once a prominent travel agency specializing in Umrah pilgrimages, collapsed in 2017, leaving approximately 63,000 pilgrims stranded and defrauded of nearly Rp 900 billion (approximately $60 million USD). For years, these victims have fought against earlier court rulings that had ordered the perpetrators’ luxury assets\u2014ranging from high-end real estate to sports cars\u2014to be seized by the state, a move that effectively barred the victims from recovering any financial compensation.<\/p>\n