Aman Palestin Heads Charged In Court With Criminal Breach Of Trust

Three heads of Aman Palestin have been slapped with multiple charges of money laundering and criminal breach of trust at the Shah Alam Sessions Court today.

The three heads of Aman Palestin being charged are the organisation’s chief executive officer Awang Suffian Awang Piut, 52, executive director Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, 58, and director Khairudin Mohd Ali, 42.

The CEO of Aman Palestin and its executive director, Awang Suffian and Abdullah Zaik were accused of embezzling about RM39.5mil each whilst Khairuddin had allegedly misappropriated about RM6mil.

The charges were levied under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act as well as Section 409 and 420 of the Penal Code for embezzlement and cheating.

According to a report from The Star, all three men also serve as directors of a company called Syarikat Samudra Champa Sdn Bhd, which had allegedly used Aman Palestin funds to purchase houses, shop lots and land in various locations.

They are also accused of misappropriating Aman Palestin’s funds to purchase gold at a cost higher than the current market value.

The trio were charged with multiple charges, with Awang Suffian and Abdullah Zaik being slapped with 52 charges each under Section 409 of the Penal Code and 19 charges each under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Tertorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities.

The duo was also charged together with 19 counts under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Khairudin is facing three charges under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

All three face a jail term of not more than 15 years, a fine not less than five times of the amount misappropriated or RM5 mil whichever is higher for each of the charge under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

Awang Suffian and Abdullah Zaik also face jail terms of not less than two years and not more than 20 years, with whipping and a possible fine for each charge framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

Judge Anita Harun set a bail amount of RM1mil with one surety for Awang Suffian and Abdullah Zaik, with RM500,000 to be deposited on Thursday and the remaining on March 13 which is the date set for case mention.

As for Khairudin, a RM200,000 bail, with one surety was set and he was ordered to make a RM100,000 payment on Thursday with the remaining amount to be settled in a month’s time.

The MACC had begun investigating Aman Palestin in November 2023, roughly a month after the state of Perlis banned the NGO from collecting donations. Aman Palestin often runs charity drives to raise funds in support of the Palestinian state.