‘Singapore: Malaysia’s police chief has announced that an investigation will be carried out into a statement made by the chief executive officer of a firm involved in an alleged child exploitation case. This follows raids on around 20 care homes believed to be connected to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) and the interviewing of over 400 individuals by authorities. GISB, a Muslim conglomerate founded in 2010 with assets totaling around US$75.6 million globally, owns bakeries, minimarts, and other businesses in Malaysia and beyond.
The Inspector-General of Police, Razarudin Hussain, revealed that the ongoing investigation is currently focused on child exploitation allegations involving the care homes thought to be owned by GISB. He emphasized the importance of first completing the investigation into the child exploitation before looking into the claims made by the company’s leader, Nasiruddin Mohd Ali. Nasiruddin had acknowledged in a video posted on the firm’s Facebook page that there were cases of sodomy at the care homes but disputed other allegations of misconduct, stating that the cases should not all be lumped together.
A series of raids by Malaysian police on welfare homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan recently resulted in the rescue of 402 children allegedly subjected to various forms of abuse, including sexual abuse. The police are currently trying to locate the parents of the rescued children to gather their statements. The police chief mentioned that some of the children had been left at the care homes as young as two years old, separated from parents who had traveled abroad for up to six years and may not have seen their parents for an extended period.
During a visit by CNA to one of the care homes in Puchong, local residents noted that they had witnessed children involved in various work and businesses, including assisting at a stable offering paid rides with animals and selling goat milk. The children seemed to keep to themselves and did not appear to adhere to typical Islamic religious practices such as participating in Friday prayers at the mosque. Reuters reported that Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department is set to present a report on suspected deviant teachings associated with GISB to the Cabinet, the national religious affairs council, and the conference of rulers, which comprises nine royal rulers who serve as guardians of Islam in Malaysia.
