Family held for verbally abusing Immigration officer

JOHOR BARU: Three Singaporeans were arrested after they verbally abused an Immigration officer at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quaran­tine Complex here.

The three – a woman in her 40s and two of her children aged 18 and 19 – were detained after they refused to lower the back window of their tinted car during inspection at the car zone heading towards Singapore at 3.30pm on Friday.

It is learnt that the woman, a businesswoman, started hurling abuses and accusations at the Immigration officer who wanted to inspect the vehicle.

One of them also allegedly showed the middle finger at the officer.

Johor Immigration Department director Datuk Rohaizi Bahari confirmed the arrests and said that they have been remanded for 14 days to assist in investigations.

"It is an offence to hurl abuse at my men who are just following the procedures during checks," he said.

He added that the Immigration Department had nothing to hide and even had visits from the Singapore consulate, as they wanted to meet with the suspects.

"So far our investigation also showed that the officer did not ask for any bribe as alleged by the suspects," he said urging those who were unhappy with his officers to lodge a complaint directly to him.

The three are being investigated under Section 56(1) (g) of the Immigration Act which carries a maximum of RM10,000 fine or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both.

News about the arrests has been widely spread via Facebook with pictures of the family in handcuffs and personal details online.

It is learnt that the two children are studying in a private college in Johor Baru.