Rejoinder, Our Reply

Bahjat Aman, an ex-official of Malaysian IRIS Corporation Berhad, has sent a rejoinder to a report titled "IRIS Corp DMD held in Malaysia on graft charge" published by The Daily Star on January 21.

He said the report includes incorrect allegation and misleading information which severely damaged his reputation, credibility, and goodwill.

Bahjat said the allegation made in the report that he was fired from the company for alleged corruption and irregularities was untrue. He said he resigned from IRIS after 15 years of excellent services in May 2016. "IRIS management rather requested me to extend my tenure in IRIS, which I graciously declined due to my commitment in my new career," says the rejoinder.

Our Reply

In the report, The Daily Star, quoting a company announcement, wrote that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission arrested IRIS deputy managing director, Datuk Hamdan Hassan, for his alleged involvement in corruption in an e-passport project of the Republic of Guinea. Another IRIS official was arrested on the same charges but his name was not mentioned because the newspaper could not confirm it. Bahjat's name was mentioned as he and Hamdan were involved in Bangladesh passport projects in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We stand corrected.