KUALA LUMPUR: Bestinet Sdn Bhd, which runs the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS), denied allegations it was involved in money laundering through its founder Aminul Islam Abdul Nor.

This follows a Bangladeshi media report claiming that Aminul, who is a Malaysian citizen of Bangladeshi origin, is one of the key figures in a syndicate that allegedly handled RM306 million in bringing workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia.

“Bestinet denies the existence of any syndicate supposedly controlled by Aminul or anyone else within our jurisdiction.

“Our company operates independently and fully complies with the relevant laws of both the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments.

“Aminul is not involved in any part of Bestinet’s operations,” Bestinet CEO Ismail Mohd Noor told Malaysiakini today.

Earlier, the news portal Prothom Alo alleged that Aminul and his representative in Bangladesh, Mohammad Ruhul Amin, also known as “Swapon”, were the two key figures responsible for bringing migrant workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia.

According to the report, the syndicate allegedly takes Tk100,000 (RM3,500) as fees from each worker, totalling Tk50 billion (RM175 million).

Meanwhile, a separate visa syndicate allegedly raked in Tk37.50 billion (RM131 million).

However, Ismail refuted these claims, saying Bestinet only charges RM100 per application.

“The fee structure mentioned in the article is incorrect. We are authorised by the Malaysian government to charge RM100 per application, but only if the worker passes the security check.

“If they fail the security check, we will refund the fees. We do not charge any syndicate fees. We only collect the amount allowed by the Malaysian government,” he said.

Denying the allegations

On June 20, Prothom Alo also quoted Swapon denying allegations of money laundering.

“Why will everyone give me money, am I so powerful? Aminul Islam is also a businessperson. How will the businesspersons have control over the labour market?” he was quoted as saying.

He reportedly said all approvals were granted by the governments of the two countries and all agencies have applied to Malaysia.

He claimed there was strong lobbying, and the agencies with good connections in Malaysia have been approved.

Meanwhile, Ismail also dismissed any allegations of financial misconduct by Bestinet.

“As I mentioned earlier, FWCMS is a legitimate platform designed to improve the migrant worker management process in Malaysia.

“All fees we charge are official and come with invoices. We strictly adhere to the regulations of both the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments,” he said.

Accused of controlling recruitment process

Bestinet is an IT company founded in 2013 by Aminul, who is now a minority shareholder in the company.

Bestinet later developed the FWCMS system, which involves 15 modules for recruiting migrant workers from 15 countries for employment in Malaysia, up to their repatriation.

Under this system, the costs are borne by Bestinet, and the government does not have to make any payments.

However, system users are required to pay a fee.

In recent times, Bestinet has become a target of politicians and industry players in the migrant worker recruitment sector, who accuse the company of controlling the recruitment process, particularly in Bangladesh.

In a recent report, Prothom Alo claimed that Aminul, through Bestinet, controlled 100 Bangladeshi Recruitment Agents (BRA).

However, Ismail, who is also Bestinet’s director, denied the allegations.

“The 100 BRAs are the result of cooperation between the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments. There is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two governments.

“We do not have any influence over any decisions made by the government. The list of 100 BRAs was provided by the Malaysian government to the Bangladeshi government before they registered under the FWCMS.

“We do not interfere in this process. We only cooperate with the decisions made by the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments,” he said.

Number of agencies

Previously, under Najib Abdul Razak’s premiership, then-home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appointed only 10 agencies out of more than 700 proposed agencies.

The number of agencies was then increased to 25, along with 250 sub-agents, during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

Later, then-human resources minister M Saravanan agreed to increase the number of agencies to 100 following a request from the Bangladeshi government.

Ismail had also denied that Bestinet had any connections with the Bangladesh-based migrant worker recruitment agency, Catharsis Solutions Limited, owned by Swapon.

“We have no relationship with Catharsis Solutions Limited. This company is not part of the 100 BRAs,” he said.

However, Ismail confirmed that another company owned by Swapon, known as Catharsis International, is one of the 100 BRAs in Malaysia.

“But we did not select this company. It was on the list provided by the Malaysian government,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a report earlier today by Scoop, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki reportedly said MACC conducted an unrelated investigation in Bestinet and found no evidence to support Prothom Alo’s claims.

“We proactively investigated this matter about a year ago and found no truth to the allegations… We found no evidence supporting claims of large sums of money flowing to Malaysia due to the overcharging of fees to the workers […]

“We do not possess the information that has been published by the mentioned media in Bangladesh, nor is there a request from the Bangladeshi authorities to investigate the claim,” he reportedly said.

He also did not elaborate on what MACC’s investigation was about, but did mention it looked into claims of money laundering related to the recruitment of Bangladesh workers to Malaysia.

He reportedly said the case was ultimately classified as “no further action” after finding “no evidence of criminality”.

Malaysiakini has contacted Aminul for a response

Source: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/719943