The suspects being escorted to the Tawau Magistrate's Court.
KOTA KINABALU: Graft busters have crippled a syndicate comprising five enforcement officers that had been providing a “service” that enabled undocumented migrants to travel using someone else’s MyKad.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) uncovered the ruse by the group, which had been operating from Sabah’s east coast Tawau district.
So far, nine people, including the enforcement officers, had been arrested under the agency’s operation dubbed “Op Lancar”.
Tawau Magistrate’s Court Leona Dominic Mojiliu on Friday (March 24) issued a six-day remand order for the nine suspects until March 29, following an application by the MACC.
It is learnt that the five enforcement officers, including two women, aged between 30 and 41, were detained when they provided their statements over the case between 2.30pm and 8.40pm on Thursday (March 23).
The other syndicate members, believed to be civilians, comprised three local women aged between 37 and 48, and a 73-year-old foreign man, all of whom were picked up on the same day between 3.30pm and 6pm.
It is believed that paperless individuals who wanted to travel would seek out these four suspects who acted as agents.
A MACC source said the syndicate’s modus operandi involved charging around RM2,500 each to anyone who intended to utilise their service.
This could be undocumented migrants or those with temporary residence status but not having the complete papers or with immigration restrictions.
They would need to fork out some RM2,500 to the syndicate if they wanted to fly out of Sabah through the Tawau airport.
Following the payment, the source added, the syndicate would then provide a genuine MyKad and travel pass for their clients to board the aircraft, travelling under the original person’s name in the MyKad.
“The undocumented migrants would then pass the checks at the Tawau airport as well as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) after the bribe has been paid to the enforcement officers,” the source said.
MACC Intelligence Division director Datuk Azmi Kamaruzaman confirmed the case, when contacted on Friday, adding the case was being investigated under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009.
He added the probe will be held with the cooperation of the National Registration Department.
