Amin surrendered in Malaysia.
A Bangladeshi national is scheduled to make his initial court appearance today in the District of Alaska to face charges that he operated an international child sexual exploitation enterprise.
According to court documents, in July 2022, Zobaidul Amin, 28, was indicted by a federal grand jury with charges related to his alleged abuse and exploitation of hundreds of minor victims in Alaska, and elsewhere in the United States and abroad. As alleged in the indictment, Amin used social media applications including Instagram and Snapchat to identify and coerce minor victims to produce images and videos of sexually explicit and sadistic conduct.
Prior to the U.S. charges, Amin was living in and attending medical school in Malaysia. In September 2022, Amin was charged by the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia with 13 counts related to the possession and production of child pornography. The FBI and the Justice Department has been working in coordination with Malaysian authorities, and Amin was transferred from Malaysia to Alaska on March 4.
“Yesterday’s return from Malaysia of a Bangladeshi national who allegedly abused and sexually exploited hundreds of minor victims worldwide is another successful example of the Administration’s increased efforts to find criminals hiding abroad,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Together with our international partners and the U.S. Department of State, we are countering online child sexual exploitation, protecting our most vulnerable, and bringing these sick abusers to face justice on American soil.”
“The FBI’s commitment to protecting our children from exploitation doesn’t change whether an offender is here in the United States or overseas,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “In collaboration with our partners, we will continue to ensure perpetrators like Amin are held accountable and brought to justice.”
“The impact of this case is that of international magnitude. It stands as one of the most prolific cases of alleged online child exploitation the United States has ever seen,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. “We are grateful for the steady, strong collaboration among the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, law enforcement agencies and Malaysian partners that made this transfer possible, enabling us to move forward and seek justice for victims.”
“Demonstrated by this significant step taken by the FBI, those who target children online cannot hide behind anonymity or borders,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “FBI Anchorage’s successful transport and arrest operation is a testament to the strength of our international law enforcement partnerships, and the FBI’s relentless pursuit of justice for victims.”
FBI Special Agents awaiting Amin’s arrival in Alaska.
Amin is charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, child exploitation enterprise, production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, cyberstalking, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. The defendant is scheduled to make his initial court appearance today at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Anchorage Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case, with support from the following agencies: Alaska State Troopers; Anchorage Police Department; Royal Malaysia Police; Laramie Police Department (Wyoming); Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation; Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office (Oregon); Mercer County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office (West Virginia); Guernsey County Sheriff’s Department (Oregon); Clay County Sheriff’s Office (Florida); Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (Oregon); Homeland Security Investigations Wenatchee, Washington/Bend, Oregon; and the FBI Field Offices in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Newark, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Seattle.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska thanks the Government of Malaysia, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Law Enforcement Attaché in Kuala Lumpur for working collaboratively to secure Amin’s appearance in the District of Alaska.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Alexander and Jennifer Ivers for the District of Alaska are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
