THAT the three top brass of non-profit organisation Aman Palestin arrived in ‘posh vehicles’ at the Shah Alam Sessions Court yesterday (Feb 15) to hear 164 charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating levelled against them has fascinated a netizen.
“I never got rich by doing charity work and (working with) NGOs. (But) Aman Palestine officials went to the Shah Alam court in a luxury car to face embezzlement charges of RM85 mil (total value of the trio’s charges),” tweeted lawyer-cum-activist Azira 🇲🇾 🌺(@ladymissazira).
“Malaysians are really kind for they want to help the victims of genocide but as usual, there are those who fish in troubled waters.”
Kereta Alphard ke Vellfire? https://t.co/Lp7mimsjR1
— Azira 🇲🇾 🌺 (@ladymissazira) February 15, 2024
Cars aside, what is more disconcerting to Azira 🇲🇾 🌺 is the very fact that “even when their bail is set at RM1 mil, they can afford to pay RM500,000 as deposit today (Feb 15) and the rest by mid-March”.
For context, Aman Palestin’s executive chairman Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, 58; CEO Awang Suffian Awang Piut, 52; and director Khairudin Mohd Ali, 42, were accused of misappropriating funds belonging to the NGO which were derived from public donations to ease the suffering of Palestinians.
Both Abdullah Zaik and Awang Suffian were accused of embezzling about RM39.5 mil each while Khairuddin had allegedly misappropriated about RM6 mil.
The post by Azira 🇲🇾 🌺 elicited numerous re-actions with some netizens cautioning against falling prey to religious figures soliciting funds on the pretext of charity.
Interestingly, few netizens reckoned that the so-called “Vellfire or Alphard” that the three accused arrived in belonged to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
There are also those who urged for calm until the court proceeding is over given Aman Palestin has stood out as one of the NGOs which is steadfast in rendering assistance to re-build the war-torn nation.
— el mat@dor (@ElMukafah) February 15, 2024
Despite lawyer Rafique Rashid having claimed that Aman Palestin has been “wrongly accused” of illegally investing in gold instrument, one netizen contended that “many fraudsters have ridden on NGOs to launder illegal money” and “later stashed them in offshore accounts which even the CIA (the US Central Intelligence Agency) is unable to access”. – Feb 16, 2024
