KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has released two of the 12 suspects who were arrested for allegedly falsifying birth certificates to register adopted children as biological children.
Its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the MACC uncovered the syndicate following a pro-active investigation with the National Registration Department (NRD).
“We managed to thwart the syndicate’s activities, which involved paying bribes to certain individuals to resolve issues, among others, where the child’s identity did not match that of the parents,” he told reporters here on Thursday (June 8).
“So, (the culprits) will bribe NRD (officers) in order to issue the birth certificates.
“The syndicate operated mostly in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.
“Such fraud cases are very serious and undermine our sovereignty.
“We must get to the bottom of this and bring those responsible to face justice,” Azam said.
It was earlier reported that the MACC had rounded up the suspects, aged between 42 and 81, in separate raids in Klang Valley at about 6pm on Wednesday (June 7).
They involved four medical doctors, two government officers while the rest were ordinary citizens.
The syndicate’s modus operandi involved doctors signing off the birth registration form to validate the child’s “birth” at the clinic although it never actually happened.
Subsequently, the applicant or middleman will attempt to register the child’s birth.
If the registration could not be processed, the applicant or middleman will then try to deal with government officials to establish the status of the application.
If the application is rejected or blacklisted, a bribe would then be offered to the government officials in order to approve the application.
