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 Rp 10 billion (US$714,643) 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.

(Read also: 20-year prison sentence demanded for First Travel bosses)

Andika and Anniesa are the main suspects in a scam amounting to Rp 848 billion from 56,682 would-be pilgrims, who had bought umrah tour packages from First Travel.

Offering a cheap package for the minor haj at Rp 14.3 million, 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, had been sentenced to 18 years in prison and Rp 5 billion in fines or another year in prison. (dpk/ebf)