KOTA KINABALU: Graft busters have detained a mother-daughter duo suspected to be linked to the issuance of IMM 13 visit passes facilitated by several local enforcement agency officers.
A seven-day remand order until August 2 was issued for the two by Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin following a request by the MACC at the Sandakan Magistrate’s Court on Saturday (July 27) morning.
The suspects are aged in their 30s and 50s and are believed to have committed the act together before they were detained after giving their statement at the MACC Sandakan office on Friday (July 26) at 7pm.
“The mother and daughter had allegedly acted as intermediaries in managing the extension of IMM13 visit pass applications for Filipino refugees who sought refuge in Sabah due to the unrest in the early 1970s," said the source.
"Initial investigations revealed that the two suspects have been active since 2022, involving bribery amounting to approximately RM20,000," they added.
The IMM13 pass is a special visit pass issued by the Malaysian government, particularly for Filipino refugees who fled to Sabah during the civil unrest in the southern Philippines in the early 1970s.
This pass provides a legal status to these refugees, permitting them to live, work, and access basic services in Sabah, Malaysia.
When contacted, MACC Sabah director Datuk S Karunanithy, confirmed the arrests and said that the case is being investigated under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.
He did not rule out the possibility of more arrests following the detention of the two individuals.
