Malaysia ‘recruitment scam’: ACC prosecutes six agencies over ‘embezzlement’

Debate for Democracy chief Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron’s firm is also named

The Anti-Corruption Commission has approved six cases against 11 people from six recruiting agencies on charges of embezzling and laundering about Tk 5.25 billion.

The allegations involve the formation of a syndicate that reportedly collected extra money to send workers to Malaysia.

Based on the information gleaned during the investigation, ACC said Merit Trade International Limited, owned by Debate for Democracy Chairman Hassan Ahamed Chowdhury Kiron, is among these recruiting agencies involved in the alleged irregularities.

The anti-graft agency said it found these organisations “embezzled” money by charging up to five times the government-set fee from workers.

ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain said on Thursday, “A huge sum has been embezzled by charging an average of five times more money from 31,331 workers instead of the government-set fee of Tk 78,990.”

The cases are being filed against the owners and high-ranking officials of six recruiting agencies, he added.

One case has been filed against the owner of Amin Tours and Travels, Ruhul Amin. According to the complaint, he collected an additional Tk 1.24 billion from 7,430 workers.

Named in a separate case, Kiron is accused of taking an additional Tk 584.45 million from 3,489 people. His wife, the company’s managing director, has also been charged.

Another case has been filed against Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, owner of Sadia International, who allegedly took an extra Tk 556.27 million from 3,321 workers.

The ACC has also brought charges against Imperial Resources Limited Chairman Md Iqbal Hossain and Managing Director Badruddoza Chowdhury, accusing them of collecting an additional Tk 1.36 billion from 8,101 people.

RRC Human Resource Service Limited Chairman Mohammad Moniruzzaman and Managing Director Md Alamgir Kabir are named in another case, accused of taking an extra Tk 871.3 million from 5,202 people.

The final case names Thanex International Limited former managing director Abdullah Shahed, Director Md Joynal Abedin Nomani and Managing Director Shamsher Ahmed. They are accused of embezzling an additional Tk 638.9 million from 3,788 workers.

Malaysia had stopped taking manpower from Bangladesh in 2018 due to widespread irregularities and the activities of syndicates.

On Dec 19, 2021, the two countries signed a new agreement to resume the deployment of Bangladeshi workers.

At that time, the government set a maximum fee of Tk 78,540 for workers travelling on a visa. The expatriates’ welfare ministry formalised this limit in an office order in 2022.

Under the previous agreement between Bangladesh and Malaysia, only 10 designated recruiting agencies were allowed to send workers until 2016.

Later, in 2021, the two countries signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that expanded this number to 100 agencies.

However, allegations emerged that new syndicates had formed there, too.

Of the 100 agencies, a group of 20-25 allegedly controlled the entire process of sending workers to Malaysia.