PETALING JAYA: The multi-million ringgit company, Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB), has denied exploiting children as labour.
“We deny the accusation and emphasise that we will never compromise on any activities that violate the law, especially those involving child labour,” said its statement on its social media page yesterday.
It said that the claims are defamatory and it is prepared to cooperate with the authorities to resolve the issue.
According to information on its social media accounts and official webpage, the conglomerate has an annual turnover of RM187 million, with 5,346 staff under 25 subsidiaries.
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Its subsidiaries operate in various sectors and include grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, poultry and meat suppliers, property developers, and travel agencies.
Besides owning hundreds of food and supermarket outlets, GISB owns a three-acre agrotourism resort, Wadi Berkat Dato Ibu Hudaibiyah, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and an estate that rears livestock in Sydney, Australia.
The company has expanded to 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand and Indonesia.
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It has also spread out across Malaysia, with a corporate office in every state.
According to a corporate video on its website, GISB claims to have 3,658 “youth” employees and 1,698 “adult” workers.
The video added that it has 1,656 families in its business network, of which 1,232 are monogamous families, while the remaining 425 are polygamous families.
It was reported that the authorities are investigating whether GISB has ties to Al-Arqam, a Muslim group that was banned by the government in 1994, after its teachings were declared deviant.
Although GISB was founded by Ashaari Muhammad, the same person who started Al-Arqam, the company’s senior leaders have reportedly denied any links to the cult.
