Ex-Ikram officer charged again, now with laundering RM18 million

KUALA LUMPUR: A former Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram) official has claimed trial at the sessions court here to 17 money laundering charges involving nearly RM18 million, allegedly used to pay for a bungalow and luxury vehicles, among other things.

Fakhrudin Abd Karim, 57, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before judge Azrul Darus.

The former NGO official was charged with four counts of transferring RM10.54 million in proceeds from unlawful activities from the account of Ehsan Cares Solution Sdn Bhd for the construction of a bungalow in Gombak.

He is also accused of three counts of transferring RM2.66 million from the same account for payments on his credit cards, and 10 counts of transferring RM4.79 million from the same account to two company accounts for the purchase of several luxury vehicles.

The luxury vehicles include a Mercedes-Benz AMG S63, Range Rover SVA, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Toyota Alphard and Lexus RX300.

The offences were allegedly committed at two bank branches in Bangsar and Kuala Lumpur between Jan 6, 2021 and April 21, 2025.

The charges were filed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the unlawful proceeds, or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

The court allowed bail of RM500,000 with one surety and fixed Aug 7 for mention.

The prosecution was conducted by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, while the accused was represented by lawyer N Sivananthan.

On June 16, Fakhrudin also pleaded not guilty in the Shah Alam sessions court to 158 charges of abusing his position in relation to RM98.27 million in bribes.

For the first to 149th charge, Fakhrudin, as the office bearer in charge of Ikram’s Maybank Islamic account, was charged with authorising 149 transfers of a total of RM81.95 million from the NGO to a company in which he had an interest.

For the 150th to 158th charge, he was accused of committing the same offence by authorising nine fund transfers totalling RM16.32 million from the NGO to two of his personal accounts.

All 158 offences were allegedly committed at Ikram’s Hulu Selangor office at Pusat Perniagaan Adenium, Bukit Beruntung, in Rawang between Jan 6, 2021 and Aug 6, 2025.