Malaysia arrests business leaders as child abuse investigation expands

Warning: The following story contains details of abuse in nursing homes.

Malaysian police have arrested the CEO and other executives of a well-known corporate group. They are accused of running charitable homes in which hundreds of children and young people were physically and sexually abused.

Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain confirmed on Thursday that Nasiruddin Mohd Ali, the head of Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), and 18 others aged between 25 and 65 were arrested following a police raid in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Several of those arrested were members of the advisory board of GISB, a self-described “Islamic” company that operates in more than 20 countries in a wide range of businesses, from supermarkets to laundromats, and is linked to the now-defunct Malaysian Al-Arqam sect.

Also included in the manhunt were two of Nasiruddin’s four wives and two of his children, as well as several children of the late Malaysian preacher Ashaari Mohamed, the founder of Al-Arqam. The government banned the organization in 1994 because it was considered heretical.

In a separate raid, five other people associated with the company were arrested at the border with Thailand, Razarudin said.

rescue

The arrests followed the rescue of 402 children and teenagers from 20 facilities in two states last week, many of whom showed signs of neglect and physical and sexual abuse, authorities said.

During the coordinated raids, police arrested 171 adults, including religious teachers and carers.

They said the homes were operated by GISB, but the company denied managing them.

Some of the children, aged between one and 17, were allegedly sodomised by their guardians and taught to sexually abuse each other, according to Razarudin.

He claimed that as punishment for their disobedience they were denied medical treatment and burned with hot metal spoons.

Medical examinations have so far shown that at least 13 young people have been victims of sodomy and 172 children have suffered long-term physical and psychological damage, the police chief said.

Preliminary police investigations revealed that the children affected were the sons and daughters of Malaysian GISB employees who had been housed in the homes since childhood.

It is suspected that the children were abused to collect public donations.

As part of their investigation into sexual abuse, child neglect, human trafficking and money laundering, authorities have frozen 96 bank accounts linked to GISB worth 581,000 ringgit (US$137,000).

Three men who were arrested as part of the police investigation into GISB were also separately charged in court on Thursday, Razarudin said.

The men, who pleaded not guilty, face multiple charges related to alleged sexual harassment of boys at a religious school in Negeri Sembilan state, according to court indictments seen by Reuters.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, caning, or both.

As part of their investigation into GISB, the police had previously brought charges against two other people.