Cops: 6P fiasco probe ‘almost’ done

Investigations into a company accused of exploiting and assaulting dozens of Bangladeshi workers nearing completion, says district police chief.

PETALING JAYA: Police are wrapping up investigations against a government-appointed firm in the 6P amnesty programme accused of human trafficking related and cheating offences.

Cheras district police chief ACP Mohan Singh Tara Singh said that statements from all relevant parties have been recorded but refused to divulge details on the investigations.

“We won’t reveal more. We will be referring the case to the DPP [deputy public prosecutor]‘s office soon, probably within this week, and seek further instructions,” he said.

He added that this would be the second time the investigation papers will be handed to the DPP as the first time around, more investigations were required to ‘tighten up’ the case.

Asked if police recorded statements from all the directors of the company, which previous reports showed links to Umno, an ex-home minister and a current MP, Mohan replied: “No comments.”

However, he said that police would investigate all aspects, including utilising Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) Act 2007 as well as Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The first covers a wide range of offences, including the use of force, threat, abduction and deception, and the latter is for cheating offences.

Three foreigners were arrested in connection with the investigations and released later, with police saying they were hunting down another suspect, apparently more vital to the case.

But Mohan today declined to say how many arrests or statements in total have been recorded, and only said, “investigations are almost complete.”

Workers cheated

On Nov 5, FMT published a report based on two CCTV videos showing Bangladeshi workers being assaulted, allegedly by employees of SNT Universal Corporation, a company officially appointed by the government to assist in the 6P exercise.

The videos were exposed by the Selangor Council Against Human Trafficking (Mapmas) with the help of whistleblowers.

The assault victims in the video are said to come from a group of about 200 who were supposed to have been registered by the company under the 6P programme.

When they realised that they had been cheated when they did not receive their work permits, the group then lodged a police report over the matter.

Under the 6P programme, illegal foreign workers will either be legalised or deported without punishment. The six Ps represent Malay words for registration, legalisation, amnesty, monitoring enforcement and deportation.

The government has appointed more than 300 companies to carry out the registration.

Following the video expose, Mapmas task force member Abdul Aziz Ismail revealed that SNT might have committed fraud by setting up more than a dozen other companies to act as “bogus employers”.

It was alleged that these companies had no business infrastructure and were formed for the sole purpose of obtaining fraudulent work permits for foreign workers under the 6P programme.

FMT also reported that former home minister Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad is a director in the same company, and according to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), Radzi became a director of SNT on May 17, 2011.

However, Radzi had denied being involved in any way to the activities of the company, claiming that his name was being misused.

He subsequently lodged a report on the FMT article which allegedly implicated him, and this reporter was questioned by police under Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998.