Kuala Lumpur: Police want NGOs collecting funds for humanitarian causes to be scrutinised and audited following complaints on social media about the legitimacy of some groups.
Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) director Ramli Yoosuf said these NGOs should be regulated by a government agency to ensure the funds collected reach the intended recipients.
“There have been complaints on social media about donations not reaching the recipients.
“In some cases, there’s no clue as to how much the NGO kept and handed out,” he said at a press conference, adding that many NGOs were formed for a certain agenda.
To stop such issues from arising, Ramli said these NGOs should submit an annual report and be thoroughly audited to see where the funds go.
Currently, the registration of NGOs falls under the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
Meanwhile, Ramli said he disagreed with NGOs that utilised a percentage of the donated funds to cover their administrative costs.
“If the NGO only comprises 10 people and they collect millions of ringgit, how much would they get if they take 30% from the amount as their administrative fee?
“This practice needs to be reviewed and there must be regulations in place,” he said.
Separately, Ramli said 644 of the 810 victims who fell prey to love scams from January until October this year were women.
Of these 644 women, 307 of them were aged between 31 and 50, and most of them were married.
“Some of them pleaded with us not to reveal their cases to their spouses,” Ramli said.
“My advice to the public is to please be careful.”
