Malaysia Freezes Funds of Company Suspected of Covering Up Child Abuse

Malaysian authorities have frozen almost 100 bank accounts belonging to a company accused of running foster homes where hundreds of children were allegedly abused, Kuala Lumpur police announced. Investigators also searched 20 houses located in two Malaysian states and arrested 171 people, including religious teachers and educators.

 

According to the authorities, 402 minors were rescued who ‘had been victims of serious physical and sexual aggression’ and had been forced by employees ‘to sexually abuse each other’.

The investigation centers on the company Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), which has links to the Al-Arqam Islamic sect, which is banned in Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Razarudin Husain said today that the authorities had frozen 96 accounts linked to the business group where a total of 124,000 dollars (111,000 euros) were deposited.

‘We have also seized eight vehicles linked to this group,’ he added.

Initially, GISB denied all allegations of abuse and claimed that it did not manage the homes located in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Even so, the director of one of the companies that manages the homes where hundreds of children were allegedly abused admitted on Saturday to ‘one or two cases of sodomy’, while denying the allegations of ‘widespread abuse’ of children.

‘There have been one or two cases of sodomy, but why lump it all together?’ said Nasiruddin Ali, executive director of the Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holding (GISBH) group, which runs the reception centres targeted by the police.

The investigations and medical examinations carried out so far have revealed that at least 13 minors have been sexually abused, said Razarudin Huassain.

The scandal has raised concerns about the fate of children in foster care and the regulation of charitable organizations in Malaysia.

According to its official website, GISB manages companies ranging from supermarkets to restaurants and operates in several countries, including Indonesia, France and the United Kingdom.