MACC questions Bestinet in probe on ’25 agencies’
Alyaa Alhadjri
Published: Jul 6, 2022 10:37 AM
https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/627300
Bestinet’s founder Mohd Amin Abdul Nor was among several individuals the MACC questioned yesterday as part of ongoing probes into alleged irregularities in the selection of 25 Bangladesh recruitment agencies authorised by Malaysia to send their workers here, according to a report.
Bangladesh’s The Business Post quoted a diplomatic source from Kuala Lumpur who said Amin was questioned at Bestinet’s office in Cyberjaya, along with several other company officials.
The report said Amin was asked about his alleged close ties with Human Resources Minister M Saravanan in relation to the processes of selecting the 25 recruitment agencies, among other questions.
Contacted for comments, Bestinet, through an external representative, said: “We shall render all cooperation to all government agencies, and we shall not comment on any matters related to (specific) agencies.”
The IT solutions provider operates the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) which Malaysia uses to manage the recruitment process at all stages.
Bestinet founder Mohd Amin Abdul Nor
It was reported that the Bangladesh labour attache at its High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Md Nazmus Sadat Salim, was also questioned by the MACC.
“They wanted to know whether we had written any letter to the Malaysian Human Resources Ministry providing the list of 25 agencies.
“We said we provided a list of over 1,500 agencies. We also said we were not involved in selecting the 25 agencies,” Nazmus was quoted as saying by The Business Post.
A source from the Bangladesh High Commission confirmed with Malaysiakini that a meeting was held involving Nazmus and MACC yesterday.
Monopoly claim
Malaysiakini has contacted MACC for confirmation and progress of its probe that follows a report lodged by Penang PKR Youth earlier this week.
PKR National Youth legal bureau secretary Darwin Lim Chee Chien previously said the state MACC would refer its complaint to a team in Putrajaya probing the alleged irregularities highlighted since the signing of the Malaysia-Bangladesh labour memorandum of understanding last December.
Lim had said their complaint highlighted the alleged monopoly in the recruitment process, the integrity of companies involved in the process and the alleged corruption in the selection process of the companies that will carry out the recruitment.
Amid pressure from labour industry players for the market to be opened to all registered recruitment agencies in Bangladesh, Saravanan defended Malaysia’s right to make the final decision and that the limit of 25 agencies and 250 sub-agents was imposed to prevent an uncontrollable influx of workers entering the country.
Saravanan had also denied allegations by labour industry players that linked Bestinet and Amin as its founder to a “syndicate” supplying labour from Bangladesh to Malaysia.