KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISBH) chief coordination officer Adib Attamimi today denied allegations that he or other company official had coached children at welfare homes linked to the business to perform sodomy.

In a video posted online, he said it was unreasonable to believe that he would personally instruct children to perform the unnatural sex acts that police alleged occurred at the welfare homes, following raids on 20 of them this week.

Instead, Adib sought to suggest that the children might have discovered sodomy on their own, after claiming that anal sex was a global trend.

"I’m sorry to say but this sodomy culture is all over the world, it has happened a lot in the world. Even in Malaysia, our own country, this thing has become rampant.

"It’s not easy to prevent it. It can come from many sources, from handphones, from observing friends, from observing in school, from balik kampung, from meeting people on the roadside, right? It can be from anywhere.”

He then said children were given to experimentation, which was difficult to prevent and did not need any specific instructions or encouragement.

Adib expressed dismay at what he claimed to be a campaign to portray the welfare centres linked to GISBH as dens of sodomy and debauchery.

The CCO’s comments appeared to be a departure from the GISBH statement yesterday, in which the company completely disavowed any links to the welfare homes raided.

On Wednesday, over 400 children, some as young as one year old, were rescued in police raids across welfare homes allegedly linked to GISBH in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain later said that 173 individuals, including caretakers, religious teachers, and the centre’s chairman, were arrested following the raids.

Razali also disclosed rampant sexual abuse including sodomy had allegedly occurred at the centres, including children being taught to sodomise one another.

The horrific nature of the revelation has caused the news to spread internationally and moved Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to comment on it directly earlier today.

Anwar said authorities must expedite investigations into the allegations due to the gravity of the alleged abuses.

Global Ikhwan markets itself as a Muslim-run business with assets all over the world worth RM325 million and owns 415 business outlets across 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Australasia, news site The Malaysian Reserve reported last month.

The group, established in 2010, traces back to the Arqam Group, the business arm of the deviant religious movement Al-Arqam, which was banned by the National Fatwa Council in 1994.

However, the company insists that it has moved away from its past association with the Al-Arqam group.