LAWYERS have slammed Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman for inaction over a report against a firm linked to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, which allegedly scammed Nepalis applying to work in Malaysia.

They said while a police report is not a mandatory requirement for authorities to start an investigation, police can still act on news reports if the facts are true.

“Not all the time,” lawyer Wong Kar Fai told The Malaysian Insight when asked about Aziz’s statement that police have to wait for a report to be lodged before launching investigations.

“If the information is true and if it is serious, police can start probing it without a report.”

Zahid is allegedly linked to Bestinet Sdn Bhd through his brother-in-law, Amin Abdul Nor, who owns the company said to be backed by powerful Malaysian politicians.

“They can use the newspaper report as a first information report and they (police) can even lodge their own police report. It is not mandatory to start investigating with a police report,” Wong said.

Lawyer and former Kapar MP G. Manivanan agreed with Wong, adding that the new Pakatan Harapan government must be more proactive in getting to the bottom of the matter.

Manivanan described Azis’ statement as a “reflection of Barisan Nasional’s mentality” whereby ministers tended to deflect responsibility in addressing scandals.

“We are a new government, therefore, we must take a new approach. Let’s not be like Barisan Nasional where everything must have police report.

“The newly appointed minister must be more proactive and must not rely everything on police report. As a lawyer myself, I agree that not all cases need police report. When it is serious, the authorities can take action based on what they have,” the PKR politician said.

The Nepali Times reported that Bestinet was among other private companies through which Malaysian and Nepalese politicians colluded to profit from Putrajaya’s revised foreign worker application process.

Nepali and Malaysian politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats took more than Rs5 billion (RM185 million) from vulnerable Nepalis looking for jobs in Malaysia, it said.

Zahid’s involvement allegedly began five years ago when he, as then home minister, outsourced the visa registration process to a private company (Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd) which had a Kathmandu-based affiliated, Malaysia VLN Nepal.

Bestinet was brought in later to register biometric details of Nepali workers.

At each stage of application, registration and health checks, the fees were higher than before the involvement of private companies.

Zahid has denied the allegations and involvement in the firm.

Bestinet has also denied any involvement with Bangladeshi smuggling syndicates, saying it was not a recruitment agency or involved in the recruitment process in Malaysia or labour source countries.

In a statement yesterday, the firm said no one in the company had any link with Zahid, either through his brother-in-law or brother.

Bestinet also denied the article’s claim that it charged migrant workers for passport scanning, fingerprinting and uploading of data online.

The firm is seeking an apology from the Nepali Times and a retraction of the article.

Selangor Bar Committee chairman Salim Bashir also agreed with Wong and Manivanan, saying that police can act without a report.

“A police report is only for the cops to open up an investigation paper (IP). They can act without a report. There is no problem,” the criminal law expert said.

Retired deputy superintendent and prosecuting officer G. Selva also concurred, stressing that police do not require official reports to be lodged to initiative investigations.

“They are duty bound to make inquiries once they have knowledge of an offence. It is part of the basic functions of policing and encompasses the ingrained role of detecting crime. It is incumbent of the police to act on all aspects of suspicions whenever offences are disclosed through any channel of communications,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Selva gave the example of police investigating the discovery of a dead body, noting that information taken from the scene is recorded without having to wait for a police report to be lodged on the matter.

“Even searches, arrests and seizures can take place immediately at the scene of crime without the formality of the official police report. 

“The contents of the official police report coupled with arrest, seizure and other covering reports will reflect the details of the first information report. It is admissible evidence.”

Selva said this approach was in line with basic and proactive police work.

“Whenever the police detect any offence, they are duty bound to begin inquiries and upgrade to a full investigation paper once offences are found under relevant laws.

“The police are never disabled or unable to take action once an offence becomes apparent. Neither do they wait for official reports,” he added. – July 24, 2018.