“Bangladesh Asks Malaysia to Arrest Businessmen in Migrant Trafficking Case”

Police in Bangladesh have asked the Malaysian government to arrest and extradite two businessmen as part of a probe of alleged money laundering, extortion and trafficking of migrant workers.

The men, Aminul Islam and Ruhul Amin, are alleged to have played key roles in a system that “fraudulently extorted money from the victims” and exposed them to “physical and mental torture,” according to a letter dated Oct. 24 that Bangladesh’s branch of Interpol sent to its counterpart in Malaysia.

The South Asian nation’s police asked that Malaysia’s government temporarily halt its use of software provided by Bestinet Sdn., a closely held company that Aminul founded. Malaysian officials have used this software to process and monitor hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Bangladesh and other countries since at least 2018…

Bloomberg News sought comment from Ruhul, who’s Bangladeshi, by phone and by contacting Catharsis International, a Dhaka-based recruitment firm of which he is a proprietor. A representative for Catharsis said by email that Ruhul refuted any allegations and has “always been operating legally, legitimately and ethically.”…

A representative for Bestinet said the company isn’t aware of the letter from Bangladesh’s police including the request that Malaysian authorities stop using Bestinet software, and declined to comment…