KUALA LUMPUR – Five individuals, including the mastermind with a Datukship, have been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Immigration Department for allegedly providing fake temporary employment permits.
The syndicate also allegedly hacked into the Immigration Department database, reported The Star.
According to the report, the arrests were a result of a year of surveillance and intelligence work by the MACC and Immigration.
It is believed that the syndicate printed hundreds of thousands of fake permits to be sold for between RM6,000 and RM8,000 each.
It is also reported that MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki confirmed the arrests and investigations are being conducted under Section 17 of the MACC Act.
Meanwhile, Free Malaysia Today quoted a source as saying that the database was hacked by wiring transmitters in the department’s computer room, enabling them to change the passwords of officers before printing the work passes from a remote location.
The news portal reported that the MACC seized computers and assorted items during a raid on a hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail, and the syndicate used several luxury hotels to carry out their operations.
Last November, the MACC busted a syndicate falsifying travel document border stamps.
It was reported that 53 people, including 33 Immigration officers at KLIA, klia2 and Bangunan Sultan Ismail Johor Baru, were rounded up under Op Selat.
Op Selat was conducted with the cooperation of the Immigration Department and involved raids in Putrajaya, Johor Baru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. – The Vibes, April 6, 2021
