Immigration smashes 2 syndicates involved in forging documents
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said that based on two-week surveillance, his team raided three locations in Jalan Ampang and Jalan Kia Peng here at 12.10pm before arresting five Chinese nationals and one Myanmarese, aged between 28 and 41, and subsequently dismantled the Ejen 001 group.
He said the operation team seized 23 Chinese passports, one Vanuatu passport, two sets of computer central processing units (CPUs), premises stamp, four handphones, two Employment Pass (EP) cards, two sets of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) application copies, one Chinese travel document and RM50,000 in cash.
"Preliminary investigations found that the Chinese national is believed to be the main mastermind in offering immigration document-related services to other Chinese nationals in the country, such as applications for Social Visit Passes and Special Passes," he said in a statement here yesterday.
He said Ejen 001 was operating behind office premises that had been turned into an operations centre to deceive the authorities, while the charges imposed were from RM10,000 to RM15,000 for each service offered, and the operations were believed to have been going on for the past six months.
In the second raid, at 5.42pm, on three business premises in Jalan Raja Laut here, Zakaria said the operation team arrested three Bangladeshi men, aged between 24 and 32 years, who were identified as being involved in the forgery of Immigration documents for the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (ePLKS).
He said that the results of public information and intelligence over three weeks found that a group known as "Al Ameen" was involved in the forgery of ePLKS, targeting Bangladeshi nationals who do not have work permits here.
"The results of the 'QR Code' check on ePLKS found that the owner is a different individual and there is no information, while this syndicate operates in this illegal activity from mobile phone shops to deceive the authorities and had been operating for six months," he said, adding that fee charged was RM30 to RM70 for one unit of fake ePLKS .
The operation team seized 18 Bangladeshi passports, one Pakistani passport, three laptops, two printers, closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) licence and cash amounting to RM3,446.
Zakaria said that all the individuals who were detained were taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigation, and legal action is to be taken against them under the provisions of the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966, and the Immigration Regulations 1963 based on their respective offences.
"Additionally, eight local citizens were called to assist with the investigations. The Immigration Department will continue to intensify enforcement to combat any activities involving document abuse and immigration law violations," he added.
– Bernama
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Kelantan Immigration uncovers use of fake passport stamps by worker agents
RANTAU PANJANG: The state Immigration Department has detected a small number of agents managing the entry of Thai workers into Malaysia who are suspected of using fake passport stamps. State Immigration director Mohamed Yusoff Khan Mohamad Hassan said the discovery was made following the inspection of six "roadtour" vans. He said the vehicles entered the country through the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) complex here. "In the operation conducted this afternoon, we inspected a total of 42 Thais after stopping the vehicles in which they were travelling. "Checks revealed that the passport of one of the drivers had Immigration stamps that looked suspicious and lacked an entry stamp from Thai authorities. "The driver has since been detained for further investigations," he told reporters here today. Yusoff said the two-hour operation which began at 5.30pm, involved more than 20 officers. He said the Thais, mostly women, were being held for questioning. The foreigners were heading to Kuala Lumpur to work when arrested by Immigration officers. All have been sent to the department's enforcement office in Kota Baru for documentation.
Borneo Post
4 hours ago
- Borneo Post
Mineral licence corruption cases to be mentioned Sept 23
Yusof (left) and Andi at the court on Tuesday. KOTA KINABALU (Aug 5): The corruption cases involving two Sabah assemblymen and a businessman over mineral prospecting licences will be mentioned again at the Sessions Court here on September 23. Judge Jason Juga fixed the date following a request by the prosecution during proceedings on Tuesday. The accused are Tanjung Batu assemblyman Datuk Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy, Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof @ Josree Yacob and businessman Datuk Tei Jiann Cheing. The prosecution informed the court that several documents had already been served to the defence under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code, but requested a further pre-trial case management date to serve additional materials including forensic reports, telecommunications data and Immigration Department verification. All three individuals had pleaded not guilty to their respective charges on June 30. Andi and Yusof are accused of receiving bribes from Tei in connection with separate applications for mineral prospecting licences. Meanwhile, Tei faces two counts of offering bribes to the assemblymen. Andi, 44, who is also Sabah's Assistant Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship, is alleged to have accepted RM150,000 from Tei at his residence in Jalan Pantai, Sembulan, on May 12, 2024, as an inducement to facilitate the processing of Sinaran Hayat Sdn Bhd's licence application. Yusof, 69, is accused of accepting RM200,000 from Tei at a hotel in Kota Kinabalu on March 6, 2024. The money was allegedly for facilitating Nusa Kini Sdn Bhd's licence application. The alleged offences were under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 while Tei, 37, from Selangor, was charged under Section 16(b)(A) of the same act. All the offences are punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction. Andi and Yusof were present in court while Tei attended the proceedings virtually via Zoom. The court had extended the trio's bails, pending disposal of their cases. Counsel Datuk Ram Singh, Rizwandean Bukhary M. Borhan, Datin Jaharah Patimbangi, Elhanan James, Shahlan Jufri, Mohd Luqman Syazwan Zabidi Md Zain, Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki and Prem Elmer Ganasan represented Andi. The same legal team, except Jaharah, represented Yusof while Tei was represented by counsel Edward Paul, Batholomew Jingulam and Jul Hamri Jumhani.
New Straits Times
7 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Policeman held over alleged bribe to speed up quarrel probe
KUANTAN: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained a policeman for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes totalling around RM3,500 from a foreigner to expedite the investigation of a quarrel case. The suspect is the tenth policeman in Pahang to be picked by the MACC in the past one week as part of ongoing investigations into several bribery cases involving drugs and ketum juice. The policeman, in his 40s who is attached to a district police headquarters in Pahang, has been remanded for five days until Aug 9. Magistrate Ellyna Othman issued the remand order during proceedings at the Kuantan sessions court here today. According to a source, the suspect was arrested at his workplace by a team of MACC officers about 5pm yesterday. "Investigations revealed that the officer had demanded about RM1,000 from a foreigner who was involved in a fight with his brother-in-law, before the foreigner lodged a police report in early July. "The bribe was allegedly an inducement to detain the foreigner's brother-in-law who is currently in police custody and to expedite the investigation process so he (brother-in-law) could be handed over to the Immigration Department for deportation," said the source. The source said that after receiving the initial RM1,000, the policeman later demanded an additional RM3,000 from the complainant, but settled for RM2,500. Meanwhile, Pahang MACC director Mohd Shukor Mahmud confirmed the arrests and said the case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009. The offence carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the bribe amount upon conviction.
