CEO of Malaysian company accused of child abuse says there were cases of sodomy

The chief executive of a Malaysian conglomerate accused of running shelters where hundreds of children and young people were sexually abused said there had been “one or two” cases of sodomy at the shelters, but denied other allegations of misconduct.

Police this week rescued 402 children from charities they say are run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) Holdings, an Islamic company that authorities say also exploits its workers.

Health checks revealed that many of the children had injuries consistent with physical and sexual abuse, while 13 of them had been sodomized, police said Friday.

GISB has stated that it does not manage the homes and denies all allegations of abuse and exploitation of workers.

But in a video posted on GISB’s official Facebook page on Saturday, Chief Executive Nasiruddin Ali said the company had broken a number of unspecified laws. “I don’t want to blame the laws. It is true that we have made some mistakes in the eyes of the law, but couldn’t there be some advice or consultation first?” he said.