The Dhaka High Court in Bangladesh has set aside the final report submitted by the Criminal Investigation Department, which had cleared 103 individuals accused of running a syndicate allegedly involved in human trafficking, fraud, extortion, and money laundering linked to the recruitment of workers for Malaysia.
When contacted, businessperson Altaf Khan’s lawyer, Rafiqul Islam, confirmed the court’s decision to Malaysiakini.
“The court made the decision after hearing arguments from both sides on Oct 30 and Nov 2, including at the Special Court for Prevention of Human Trafficking.
“In its ruling last Sunday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court ordered police to reopen investigations into this high-profile case.
“The ruling paves the way for real justice,” he said briefly.
On Sept 3 last year, Altaf filed a police report at Paltan police station in Bangladesh against 103 individuals accused of siphoning off RM8.36 billion through an organised syndicate.
Among those named in the report were former expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister Imran Ahmed, former senior secretary Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, and former MP Nizam Uddin Hazari.
Also accused were politician and retired lieutenant general Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Benjir Ahmed, and Kashmiri Kamal - along with her daughter Nafisa Kamal, who is the wife and daughter of former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
At least 100 owners of Bangladeshi overseas recruitment agencies were also named in the report.
However, the CID previously concluded there was “no evidence” regarding the alleged syndicate.
‘Fabricated, biased’
Altaf claimed the CID’s report was “fabricated and biased” due to influence from the accused parties.
He subsequently petitioned the court to express no confidence in the CID’s findings and requested a fresh investigation.
Bangladesh’s labour-sending programme to Malaysia resumed in August 2022 after a nearly six-year suspension.
However, in May this year, after more than 476,000 workers had been deployed, the programme was halted, leaving another 17,000 licensed workers stranded.
At the time, Malaysia only authorised 25 Bangladeshi agencies to send workers - a group later dubbed the “syndicate” - allegedly linked to four former Bangladeshi ministers and MPs.
Although Bangladesh had set the official recruitment cost at 79,000 taka (about RM3,400) per worker, migrants claimed they were forced to pay as much as 544,000 taka each.
Of that, roughly 142,000 taka was collected by agents in Bangladesh and another 150,000 taka by syndicate-linked parties in Malaysia for each visa.
M’sia requests halt to probe
In July, Malaysiakini reported that Bangladesh agreed to halt its investigation into the alleged syndicate exploiting its citizens seeking jobs in Malaysia, following a request from the Malaysian government.
According to a local official who requested anonymity, the decision was made during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 17 between representatives of Bangladesh’s government and Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry.
“Two officials, the special secretary and special assistant to Bangladesh’s chief adviser, visited Malaysia and met with ministry officials.
“During the meeting, the Bangladeshi representatives agreed to stop the investigation so that Malaysia could resume the recruitment process,” the official said.
Malaysiakini was informed that the meeting took place after Malaysia sent a letter to Bangladesh urging for the probe to be dropped, calling it baseless.
The purported letter, dated April 23, 2025, was sent by a senior Human Resources Ministry official to his counterpart at the Bangladeshi Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry.
However, the Human Resources Ministry denied holding any formal meeting with Bangladeshi representatives and declined to comment on the contents of the letter. - Mkini
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