REQUEST TO EXTRADITE BESTINET FOUNDER BEING MANAGED ON A G2G, P2P BASIS - SAIFUDDIN

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- The request from the Bangladesh government to extradite Bestinet founder Aminul Islam Abdul Nor and his associate, Ruhul Amin, both linked to money laundering activities, is currently being handled by Bukit Aman (Royal Malaysia Police Headquarters) in collaboration with authorities in Dhaka.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the matter is being managed on a government-to-government (G2G) as well as a police-to-police (P2P) basis, predicated on bilateral cooperation.

"During the visit of (Chief Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh Dr Muhammad Yunus) to our country a few months ago, I had the opportunity to discuss the matter with him.

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"Both sides agreed that the matter will be handled or managed on a P2P. I will leave it at that for now (do not want to elaborate further); I do not want to go beyond that," he told reporters after witnessing the Signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the Pilot Project of the Peacemaker Body between the National Registration Department and the National Population and Family Development Board here, today.

However, Saifuddin Nasution did not specify whether Dhaka had clarified the purpose of the extradition.

Last November, Saifuddin Nasution was reported to have said that the Home Ministry confirmed receiving an application from Bangladesh requesting Malaysia to detain Aminul Islam and his associate Ruhul, following allegations that both were involved in money laundering, extortion, and foreign worker trafficking activities.

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He had stated, however, that the Malaysian government requested further clarification from Dhaka regarding the application, specifically whether their detention was for the purpose of extradition or for conducting further investigation.

Malaysia, he said, needed to be clear first on the objective of the detention, whether it was for the purpose of recording statements and carrying out an investigation.

Aminul Islam is the founder and chairman of Bestinet, the company that operates the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS) used by the Malaysian government to process the entry of foreign workers into the country.

It is understood that Aminul, who is originally from Bangladesh and is now a Malaysian citizen, is no longer the chairman of Bestinet but still holds a stake in the company.

-- BERNAMA