Major haul: Zakaria (centre) with fellow officers Basri Othman (left) and Mohd Anas Muhamad Dzarib showing the seized fake passports at the press conference in Putrajaya. — ART CHEN/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: A passport-forging syndicate that used impostors to undergo health checks on behalf of unfit foreigners during medical screenings has been crippled, with Immigration officers arresting five Bangladeshi men including two alleged masterminds.
The syndicate caters to foreigners, who want to pass the Foreign Workers’ Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomema) medical check-ups, said Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban.
“They were detained in raids conducted at residential premises in Jalan Jelawat and Jalan Razak Mansion in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
“We conducted the raids at about 9.40am following three weeks of intelligence gathering by the department’s Special Operation and Intelligence division,” he told reporters yesterday.
Zakaria said the syndicate’s modus operandi is to forge passports of unqualified foreigners, who wished to pass the Fomema checks.
“Syndicate members will pose as the unfit foreigners to pass the check-ups.
“The photo in the forged passports will be of syndicate members but the details will be of Fomema applicants,” he said.
He said the syndicate has been operating for about three months.
“They charge between RM150 and RM250 for each passport forged,” he added.
Eight genuine Bangladeshi passports and one from India along with seven fake ones – three Bangladeshi and four Indonesian – were seized, Zakaria said.
“We also seized passport pages and covers of multiple countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, India and Indonesia as well as 11 mobile phones and RM2,100 cash.
“Several items, including computers, printers, paper hole punchers and a vehicle sweep were also seized in the operation,” he added.
He said the syndicate caters to foreigners from various countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia.
“They use residential premises to operate and used Bangladeshi agents to scout for customers.
“They take about one to two days to prepare the forged passports,” he added.
Zakaria said three of those detained, including the two mastermind, had temporary work passes for foreigner workers in the construction sector.
“Another had a student visa while the fifth suspect did not have a valid pass.
“We believe those with valid passes have been in the country for about two to three years,” he said. He said the department will work with other relevant agencies and the respective embassies to investigate the syndicate further.
“We will not compromise in taking action against anyone who flout immigration laws and regulations, especially passport forgery syndicates,” he said.
Those detained were brought to the Immigration headquarters in Putrajaya, he added.
