PUTRAJAYA: Over the course of the past three years, an Immigration officer deployed overseas and a high-ranking executive from a foreign workers company have allegedly been accepting bribes totalling over RM100mil.
Their modus operandi was to abuse the Foreign Visa System (VLN) by approving visa applications and bringing in Bangladeshi nationals to work in Malaysia in the guise of tourists.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the officer, who is attached to the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka, has been working hand in glove with workers’ agencies in Bangladesh as well as Malaysia to bring in workers since 2021.
“The amount of bribery involved is estimated to be RM100mil. The officer is believed to have received payments between US$300 and US$500 (about RM1,350 and RM2,250) for each VLN approval,” said a source.
The same source said the government charges only RM105 per visa application.
Sources also said the latest arrest brought the number of officers from the department held to assist in a probe under a special operation codenamed Ops Taka to three.
The second suspect arrested is said to be the managing director of a foreign workers company.
The two were arrested at around 6.30pm on Thursday at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here.
Magistrate Mageshwary Muniandy allowed for the two suspects to be remanded for four days until July 31 following MACC’s application at the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed the arrest.
The MACC’s anti-money laundering division launched Ops Taka in April with the assistance of the Immigration Department.
In April, two Immigration officers stationed at the same High Commission were remanded, with 20 bank accounts and properties valued at more than RM3mil frozen and seized as graft busters probed allegations of corruption.
