KUALA LUMPUR: Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) chief executive officer, his wife and other company top brass will be charged tomorrow with being part of an organised criminal group.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said 22 individuals will be charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code.
If convicted, they face a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
"I can confirm that 22 individuals including the CEO and his wife will be charged at the Selayang Sessions Court tomorrow.
"The others include the son of the late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad and
other high value targets who were arrested under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Op Global," he said when contacted on Tuesday.
He said the 22 were among 50 people currently detained at the Kajang Prison under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, also known as Sosma.
It was previously reported that the GISB CEO was among 16 people recently rearrested under Sosma.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain had on Oct 10 said 58 GISB members had been detained under Sosma.
Razarudin last month said the investigation into GISB was shaping up into a probe of an organised crime syndicate.
He had said that the investigation showed a clear organisational structure involved in the welfare homes raided in Phase 1 and 2 of Operation Global.
Op Global was launched on Sept 11 with 20 welfare homes raided.
Police had rescued more than 400 children, aged between one and 17, who were believed to have been exploited and abused.
Razarudin said initial investigation also suggested that some of the children had been sodomised.
The group was also being probed for forced labour, with the victims' ages ranging between 14 and 20.
The incidences of forced labour allegedly took place in Miri, Sarawak; Rawang, Selangor; and Alor Setar, Kedah between 2013 and this year.
GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd has since denied the allegations and any links to the case.