PETALING JAYA: A syndicate forging the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS) and Residence Pass has been busted by the Immigration Department.
In a statement on Thursday (March 1), Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said 26 people have been arrested during a raid, codenamed Ops Serkap.
He said the raid was carried out by officers from the Intelligence, Special Operations and Analysis Division from Feb 27 to 28 around the Putrajaya Immigration office and the Klang Valley area.
Mustafar said 15 foreign men, three foreign women and eight locals were arrested.
"Early investigations revealed that six Malaysian men were agents or middlemen and were also the main people to acquire fake PLKS, residents, and social visit passes," he said.
He added a confession from a foreign national who was arrested revealed that RM18,000 for each person was paid to an agent to acquire a Residence Pass while an additional RM7,000 was paid for a Residence sticker.
"The confession from one of the arrested agents found that they had paid between RM18,000 and RM50,000 to the syndicate to acquire the Residence Pass sticker but until now, they had failed to get the stickers for the foreign nationals who have made payments," he said.
Mustafar added that an agent's car was also seized which contained foreign passports and immigration documents.
He said that the 48-hour operation also involved a few companies which was said to be owned by "Datuks".
Mustafar added that a few companies raided by the Special Operations Unit on Feb 28 had found that a few foreign company owners had made use of Malaysian single mothers to obtain a company licence that was used to register and process rehiring applications to MyEG using fake documents and certificates.
"Those who were arrested have been placed at the KLIA Immigration Detention Depot for further investigation and action," he said.
He added that they were being investigated for various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963.
"The Malaysians who were arrested will be remanded for four days to assist with investigations," he said.
He also urged the public and employers to avoid using quicker ways to acquire services as most cases result in heavy financial losses due to forgery and fraud.
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