The Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) wants the Attorney-General’s Chambers to investigate the agency under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

MHO secretary-general Hishamuddin Hashim said a company which had its licence suspended could set up a new firm and offer different packages.

The directors of the agency should be charged under Sections 420, 415 or 409 of the Penal Code to ensure justice for the victims if there was evidence of wrongdoing, he told a press conference in front of the AGC’s building here today.

Section 415 and 409 of the Penal Code deal with scamming and criminal breach of trust, respectively.

Present were more than 50 people from various parts of the country who claimed they had been cheated. Some of them carried placards urging the authorities to haul the agency to court.

Hishamuddin said MHO had sent a letter to the AGC to consider sterner action against the firm.

He said they had decided to raise the matter with the AGC because the agency had allegedly failed to compensate the victims despite a consumer tribunal ordering it to do so.

According to him, the agency had applied for a stay in the execution of the tribunal’s decision pending a judicial review.

“They want (the court) to determine if the tribunal has any authority to instruct the company to pay back the money collected from the victims,” he said.

A representative of the alleged victims, Sadiah A Majid, said numerous efforts had been made to recover their money, but they had not been successful.

“This is heartbreaking because most of them are villagers. Some earn a living by just selling vegetables and homemade items,” she said.

“They had been saving up for a long time with the intention of performing umrah.”