KUALA LUMPUR – Seven people linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), comprising four wives and three children of the group’s top executives, have been remanded for seven days.
An Australian woman was among the seven people, aged 18 to 55, to receive the remand order by the Shah Alam magistrates’ court today to assist in investigations into GISBH, reported Sinar Harian. They will be remanded until October 4.
The group, consisting of six women and a man, were brought to the court under heavy police protection around 9.30am.
Lawyer Rosli Kamaruddin was reported as saying that all seven individuals were detained at about 9pm last night at a house in Rawang.
On Wednesday, GISBH CEO Datuk Nasiruddin Mohd Ali’s remand order, along with 23 followers, including his wife and children, was extended for four more days. The remand will end tomorrow.
19 of the 23 were arrested on September 19 in a raid which also took place in several areas. The others were arrested separately.
Today, the Selangor state government has directed all premises related to the group in the state to be closed and for all their assets to be confiscated.
Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said he will announce the total number of premises including shelters and religious schools related to the organisation in the state on Wednesday.
“The shelters that are related to GISBH are closed immediately, including religious schools.
“That is an immediate action being taken by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department and the police. If we get more information, we will go (raid and close),” he said as reported by Bernama.
Meanwhile, the Selangor Zakat Board has confirmed that it has never received any zakat payments from the company.
Collection division head Mohd Fikri Naim Harun said that although it had previously conducted zakat outreach efforts at GISBH, to date, no zakat payments have been recorded as received from GISBH and its subsidiaries, Bernama reported.
“There are more than 20 companies related to GISBH on our list that, upon review, have not made any zakat payments to the Selangor Zakat Board. We are also unable to determine the amount of zakat that GISBH and its subsidiaries should pay, as we have never received any information regarding their assets and liabilities,” he said.
Since the raid on 20 GISBH-related homes on September 11, more than 300 individuals have been detained. In total, 572 children have been rescued including the initial group of 402.
Razarudin previously said that health screenings of 392 children rescued from the homes found that the victims suffered physical and emotional abuse while also being subjected to labour exploitation.
The organisation is said to have over 10,000 followers and is operating in various parts of the globe.
GISBH, however, has denied allegations of it being related to the abuse cases. – September 28, 2024