Bangladesh asks Malaysia to arrest and extradite 2 businessmen over alleged migrant worker trafficking and extortion

“Bestinet denies the existence of any syndicate supposedly controlled by Aminul or anyone else within our jurisdiction,” Bestinet’s current chief executive officer Ismail Mohd Noor told Malaysiakini on Sep 23, adding that Mr Aminul is no longer involved in any part of Bestinet’s operations. 

On Sep 18, Bangladesh media outlet Prothom Alo reported that both Mr Aminul and Mr Ruhul were involved as “controllers” of a money laundering syndicate made of 100 agencies that could continue sending migrant workers to enter Malaysia, although recruitment agencies are no longer allowed to send workers to Malaysia since May this year.

Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry had set the entry deadline of May 31 after tens of thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers had become victims of an extensive labour scam in Malaysia whereby they had to pay up to US$5,000 upfront for jobs that did not exist, forcing them to work illegally to pay debts, according to South China Morning Post.

According to local recruitment agency owners in Bangladesh, cited in Prothom Alo, the official registration fee per worker is 2,700 Bangladeshi taka (US$22.59) but workers have been charged a fee of around 107,000 Bangladeshi taka by the syndicate. 

Prothom Alo reported that while 7,000 Bangladeshi taka is obtained by a local collection agency, the remaining 100,000 Bangladeshi taka is sent to Bestinet, through “illegal channels” as a “syndicate fee”. And a sum of 50 billion Bangladeshi taka has been laundered this way, as reported by Prothom Alo. 

Mr Ismail refuted claims of the exorbitant application fee reported by the Bangladeshi local media.

“We do not charge any syndicate fees. We only collect the amount allowed by the Malaysian government,” Mr Ismail said, as quoted by Malaysiakini. 

On Jun 20, Prothom Alo also reported that Mr Ruhul had denied allegations of money laundering.

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

According to Bloomberg, the Bangladeshi police had also requested for Malaysia to temporarily halt Bestinet’s proprietary IT system, the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS). 

The Malaysian Immigration Department has utilised the FWCMS platform to monitor and consolidate visa applications from 15 countries (including Bangladesh) exporting labour to Malaysia since 2013.

In their statement on Wednesday, Mr Aminul and Bestinet said the company’s technology is specifically developed to “foster transparent and lawful recruitment practices”, which are closely monitored by Malaysian and Bangladeshi government bodies.

“Dato’ Sri Amin (Mr Aminul) and Bestinet firmly reject any suggestions of misconduct and remain committed to delivering a transparent, secure, and accountable foreign worker management solution,” they added. 

“Bestinet continues to operate under formal government contracts and pledges to maintain open communication with all stakeholders as it uphold Malaysia’s high standards for foreign worker protection.”