Tawau Immigration officer among trio nabbed over RM12,000 bribe

KOTA KINABALU: An Immigration officer and two middlemen were arrested by anti-graft investigators in connection with a RM12,000 bribe to allow an undocumented Indonesian national to fly from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur.

It was learned that the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers arrested the trio at about 6pm at the Sabah MACC office on Thursday (July 13).

The sources said the suspects were believed to be part of a syndicate involved in smuggling foreigners without travel documents.

The Immigration enforcement officer, aged 35, and the middlemen, who are in their 40s and 50s, were arrested after being called in for questioning.

"We believe the officer was working with the middlemen to allow foreigners without documents to go through the back channels at the airport to board flights out of Tawau to Peninsular Malaysia," the source said.

"An Indonesian man who did not hold any travel documents is believed to have gone through without checking in at the Immigration counter at the Tawau airport," the sources said.

When contacted, Sabah MACC director Datuk S Karunanithy confirmed that three people including an enforcement officer were arrested.

He said the case is being investigated for corruption under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.

He said the suspects were detained for 24 hours before being released.