KUALA LUMPUR: Only two of the 20 welfare homes raided by police were found to be registered, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said today.
He said that based on police investigations during phase one of Op Global, 18 welfare homes were unregistered.
"These homes must be registered under the Welfare Department. Those that were unregistered simply went on with their operations without any proper monitoring," he told reporters today.
GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd is now the focus of a police investigation after raids were conducted on 20 welfare homes allegedly linked to the group.
The raids on Wednesday saw 402 people, some as young as 1-year-old, rescued. Police said the victims had endured various forms of exploitation and abuse, including being sodomised.
Razarudin also said initial investigations suggested that some of the caretakers had also taught the children to sodomise other children.
The IGP on Sunday told the NST that GISBH had been on the police watch list since 2011. He also said the coordinated raids at the homes were the culmination of a six-month probe to gather intelligence, build a case and formulate an action plan.
Razarudin had said that he met with representatives from the Research Centre for Deviant Teachings (Pukas) six months ago.
Police, he said, had been monitoring the company even before the recent allegations of child exploitation and abuse went viral on social media.
GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd has since denied the allegations and any links to the case.