PETALING JAYA: Only RM9,000 from about RM20,000 paid by Bangladeshi workers went to 10 authorised recruitment agents operated by a syndicate.
A Bangladeshi businessman who claimed that he was the spokesman for the 10 companies based in Dhaka said the rest of the money was distributed to middlemen, including those in villages.
He told The Star that the workers were coaxed by their own friends and close associates into going through the middlemen instead of the authorised agents.
The greedy friends and associates, he said, would then make the workers pay huge sums of money.
“The Bangladesh government clearly declared that recruitment of workers to Malaysia could only be done through these companies and yet, they chose to go through the middlemen.
“The workers have a choice to come to us but they … end up paying more money,” he said.
On why only the 10 companies were allowed to hire workers to Malaysia, the man said a government-to-government agreement in 2016 paved the way for the 10 companies to be the sole hirers.
However, he said, both governments decided on the 10 companies to reduce the cost of the migrant workers.