KUALA LUMPUR – The counsel for Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Abdul Nor, the founder of IT solutions company Bestinet Sdn Bhd, has denied allegations linking the businessman to alleged criminal offences.
Datuk N. Sivananthan, the lawyer representing Amin, a Bangladeshi-born Malaysian citizen also known as Aminul Islam Abdul Nor, claimed that news reports on Amin or Bestinet’s involvement in illegal practices are “completely unfounded”.
“(Amin) and Bestinet firmly reject any suggestions of misconduct and remain committed to delivering a transparent, secure and accountable foreign worker management solution.
“Bestinet continues to operate under formal government contracts and pledges to maintain open communication with all stakeholders as it upholds Malaysia’s high standards for foreign worker protection,” Sivananthan said in a statement today.
The statement referenced Bloomberg’s article yesterday, which reported that Bangladeshi authorities have asked Malaysia to arrest and extradite Amin and one Ruhul Amin to aid investigations into alleged money laundering, extortion and migrant worker trafficking.
The report claimed that the men, who were supposedly last seen in Kuala Lumpur, played “key roles” in a scheme that “fraudulently extorted money from victims” and subjected them to “physical and mental torture.”
Bangladesh police also reportedly requested that Putrajaya temporarily suspend the use of software provided by Bestinet, whose contract with Malaysia’s Home Ministry to operate the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) was recently renewed.
Meanwhile, Sivananthan clarified that Amin, who is also known as “Amin Bangla” in Malaysia, serves in a shareholder capacity at Bestinet, with the FWCMS platform operating in “full compliance with the Home Ministry and Immigration Department’s standards”.
“Importantly, neither (Amin) nor Bestinet engages in recruitment processes or has any direct interactions with recruitment agencies or potential hires in Bangladesh or elsewhere.
“Bestinet’s role is strictly limited to providing implementation and technical support for FWCMS while all recruitment decisions remain solely under the purview of the relevant government authorities in Malaysia and Bangladesh,” the lawyer added.
He also stressed that Amin has not, “at any point”, been involved in activities beyond the officially-sanctioned scope of Bestinet’s technology services.
In June, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed the cabinet’s decision to renew Bestinet’s contract with the Home Ministry to continue developing, supplying, and maintaining the FWCMS after its previous six-year contract expired on May 31.
Later in July, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said that the committee would scrutinise the contract extension, noting that the committee had not summoned Amin for previous proceedings as he was believed to be no longer affiliated with Bestinet.
Previously, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki told Scoop that the MACC had classified its investigation into Bestinet as “no further action” after finding “no evidence of criminal activity.”
He also noted that MACC had found nothing to support money laundering allegations published by the Dhaka-based Prothom Alo, which claimed that a syndicate in Bangladesh was profiting from recruiting migrant workers to Malaysia.
Azam clarified, however, that MACC’s past investigations into Bestinet were unrelated to the allegations raised by Prothom Alo, though he did not elaborate on the specifics of the earlier investigation. – October 6, 2024