21 hours ago
Immigration busts fake passport factory in Kepong
Mohd Haris Fadli Mohd Fadzil
KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of fake passports were found during a raid on a residence that had been turned into a factory for producing counterfeit documents.
The operation, codenamed Ops Serkap, was carried out by the City Immigration Department enforcement division on an apartment in Kepong early this morning.
The raid saw hundreds of passports being processed inside the three-bedroom unit.
Two Bangladeshi men, both in their 20s and believed to be syndicate members, were caught in the act of processing fake passports in one of the rooms on the ninth floor when the raid was conducted.
At the time, a printer was actively printing pages for Bangladeshi international passports.
Checks at the premises revealed fake passports from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan and Myanmar based on the passport covers found in the rented apartment.
Also discovered were several documents related to the Foreign Workers' Medical Examination and Monitoring Agency (Fomema), which are required for migrant workers to be employed in Malaysia.
It is understood that the syndicate charged RM400 for each fake passport produced at the "factory".
When asked to demonstrate the process, the two suspects were able to produce a fake passport in about 10 minutes.
The suspects, who struggled to speak Malay, claimed they only worked at the premises for a salary of about RM2,500 a month.
"In one day, I can make 20 to 30 (fake passports), depending on how many orders the boss gives. One passport can be done in 25 to 30 minutes.
"I just work here. I don't know who these passports belong to. The boss tells me what to do and I just do it," one of them told Harian Metro at the scene.
City Immigration Department director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff, who led the operation, said the raid followed a month of intelligence gathering.
"The syndicate's modus operandi is to prepare fake travel documents (passports) to deceive clinics into issuing Fomema reports.
"They use the personal details of individuals with a 'fit' status and swap the passport photo with that of an 'unfit' individual in order to manipulate blood tests and X-ray reports," he said.
He added that the foreign workers then used the falsified Fomema reports to apply for extensions on their work permits.
Preliminary investigations revealed that all transactions between customers and agents were conducted via WhatsApp, with orders forwarded to the two detained suspects for processing.
"Payments were made to an account believed to belong to a person based in Bangladesh. Further investigations are ongoing to trace all those involved in the syndicate.
"The Immigration Department will not compromise with anyone, especially foreigners who conspire to commit such criminal activities," he said.
Both suspects are being investigated under Section 55D of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for forgery or alteration of endorsements or documents related to immigration.
