SHAH ALAM: A deputy assistant director in the Immigration Department has been charged with four counts of accepting RM140,000 in bribes to illegally admit 56 Bangladeshis into the country.
Mastura Aziz, 48, pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court judge Mohd Nasir Nordin yesterday.
She is accused of receiving a total of RM140,000 from a foreigner at KLIA Terminal 1 as an inducement to bypass official immigration procedures.
The offences are alleged to have occurred on May 3, 7, 11, and 15 last year at a shopping centre in Sepang, the Kota Warisan Bandar Hawker Centre in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, and a petrol station in Persiaran Warisan Maju.
Under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The judge set bail at RM20,000 in one surety for all charges, Bernama reported.
He also ordered the accused to report to the nearest MACC office monthly and scheduled Feb 25 for the next mention.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) has issued a statement on a similar case of another immigration officer involved in “flying passport” activity at KLIA Terminal 1 on June 2 last year.
The term “flying passport” refers to a corrupt scheme where immigration officers illegally facilitate entry or exit by stamping passports for bribes, bypassing proper checks, and allowing people (often undocumented) to “fly” through checkpoints without being scrutinised.
The EAIC said the officer was found to have keyed in a passenger’s entry details into Malaysia, including the passport information, into the Malaysian Immigration Integrated Management System (MyIMMs) without the passenger being present at the counter during the process.
“The officer’s actions did not comply with the guidelines under the Quality Management System of the Malaysian Immigration Department and contravened guideline PK(0)IM.H.03-02 issued by the director-general of Immigration, constituting misconduct under paragraph 24(1)(f) of Act 700,” it said.
Following the findings, the EAIC referred the officer to the Immigration Department’s Disciplinary Authority with a recommendation that disciplinary action be taken against the officer under paragraph 4(2)(f) for dishonest and untrustworthy conduct.
The statement added that the commission also recommended that action be taken against the officer under paragraph 4(2)(g) for irresponsible behaviour pursuant to the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993.
