A man connected to an Islamic group is being charged in Malaysia in a case of suspected child abuse

A Malaysian man was charged with criminal intimidation in court on Wednesday. According to Reuters, the man is connected to an Islamic conglomerate that is accused of running charity homes where children were reportedly abused.

A 39-year-old man named Mohamad Riza Makar pleaded not guilty to a charge sheet seen by Reuters and confirmed by a police investigator that he threatened a woman who used to work for the company to drop a police report.

Bernama, the state news service, said that Mohamad Riza, a businessman with three wives and ten children, was freed on a 10,000-ringgit ($2,360) bail. He could go to jail for up to two years, pay a fine, or both if he is found guilty of legal threats.

After the hearing, Mohamad Riza and his lawyer could not be reached right away to give a statement. A person who works for Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) Holdings did not answer a call for comment.

In raids last week on 20 welfare homes that the police say are owned by GISB, they saved more than 400 children. Police say a lot of children showed signs of being sexually abused or not getting enough care.

GISB has said that it did not run the shelters and has rejected claims of widespread abuse. However, on Saturday, its CEO did admit that “one or two” cases of sodomy happened at the homes.

Mohamad Riza is the second person charged in court who has a connection to the GISB probe. The case was linked to a 19-year-old girl being charged with child abuse last week, Bernama said.

GISB is connected to Al-Arqam, a religious group that the government banned in 1994. The company is now calling itself an Islamic conglomerate based on Muslim values, even though it still acknowledges the link.

Rs. 1 equal 4.2340 ringgit