MELAKA: A senior officer from the state Immigration Department, his wife and two other enforcement officers have been remanded for allegedly accepting bribes to protect commercial premises employing illegal immigrants.
The six-day remand order until Jan 11 was issued by magistrate Sharda Shienha Mohd Suleiman at the Ayer Keroh Court following an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday.
According to a source, two of the suspects, including the senior officer, were believed to have received monthly bribes amounting to about RM20,000 from employers operating in the state between 2021 and last year.
“The bribes were allegedly given in exchange for protecting the premises involved and not taking action against offences related to the hiring of illegal immigrants,” the source said.
The source added that a woman, who is the wife of the senior officer, was also detained after she was suspected of abetting the corrupt activities.
In a separate case, another enforcement officer was also remanded for allegedly soliciting and receiving bribes totalling RM1,950 from a restaurant manager between January and July last year.
The payments were allegedly made as an inducement for the officer to refrain from acting against undocumented migrants employed at the premises.
All the suspects, aged between 30 and 50, were arrested at the state MACC headquarters on Monday.
When contacted, state MACC director Datuk Adi Supian Shafie confirmed the arrests, adding that both cases would be investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
