KUALA LUMPUR – Three Malaysians, including Aman Palestin Bhd’s CEO Awang Suffian Awang Piut, are on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Terrorist Screening Centre list.
The other two are Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam’s Abu Bakar Abdul and Persatuan Cinta Syria Malaysia’s Ahmad Musa Al Nuwayri Kamaruzaman.
The organisations are often involved in sending aid to the Middle East.
Op Ihsan secretariat chairman Jismi Johari told Scoop that a letter barring the trio’s involvement had been issued by the Foreign Ministry.
The letter, which went viral, was to inform Jismi that the trio were no longer allowed to be involved in Op Ihsan, which helps to manage the delivery of humanitarian aid from Malaysia to the people in Gaza.
Jismi said the trio are not directly involved with Op Ihsan, only their organisations are among those supporting the initiative.
“I have been contacted by a representative from Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam yesterday informing me that the individual in the list no longer holds a position in the NGO.
“So far, I don’t know why they are on the list. I’m also trying to get some answers and find out more about which category they are in.
“I’ll be informing each of the individuals that they are on the list, but I think they already know since the letter went viral.”
He added that he repeatedly reminded his NGO partners to be cautious when dealing with collaborators from overseas.
“I’m also disappointed that the letter was leaked as it contained the names of the individuals. This is going to have an impact on them as it affects their privacy.
“We were going to have a meeting to discuss the contents of the letter. I don’t know who leaked it.”
Jismi said he received the letter from Wisma Putra’s West Asia division via email on February 15.
On the same day, Awang Suffian and Aman Palestin executive director Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman pleaded not guilty to 52 identical criminal breach of trust charges involving the same RM20.94 million worth of Aman Palestin-owned assets in the form of cash.
The duo also maintained their innocence when jointly charged with 19 counts of cheating by allegedly marking-up prices of gold bars sold to Aman Palestin.
The pair is accused of dishonestly increasing the cost of the material by RM5.75 million throughout multiple transactions between September 2021 and July 2023.
They also claimed trial when charged with 19 separate counts of identical money laundering charges involving RM12.8 million in funds. – February 17, 2024