JOHOR BARU: Investigations into the recent hacking of the Immigration Department’s database to issue fraudulent Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS) have implicated at least six immigration officers here.
It is learnt that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained three immigration officers. Three others, including a senior officer, all from the Sultan Abu Bakar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (KSAB) Complex, face internal disciplinary action.
MACC officers seized an array of foreign passports from the suspects, including travel documents from Bangladesh, Myanmar, India and China.
When contacted, Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said that the department would continue cooperating fully with the MACC to stamp out wrongdoing, but declined to elaborate further.
With this latest case in Johor, MACC has to date detained more than a dozen people under Ops Crack, with the dragnet possibly widening to other major entry points into the country and also the Immigration Department’s division handling foreign workers.
A Home Ministry official said in the latest arrests in Johor and the seizure of passports at KSAB recently, these officers in Johor were identified during the investigations into the syndicate that is believed to have hacked the MyIMM system to allow those who have overstayed to be legalised, and to allow them to apply for PLKS.
“They also usually hack the autogates to enter data or send the passport physically to the checkpoints to backdate the stamps on the pages to show that a person, who overstays, exits the country legally and then re-enters legally for them to be eligible for the PLKS within their visa period,” the official said.
The official said the hacking would need to be done by immigration officials with knowledge about information technology.
The official added that stricter scrutiny has driven the cost of tampering with dates via “flying passports” up to RM1,500 each, with many applicants opting for checkpoints in Sabah and Sarawak.
“The bulk of the money goes to the agents and middlemen, while the immigration staff get about RM250 to RM300 each,” the official said, adding that the government should reconsider adding China back to the list of five countries whose nationals cannot use the autogates to enter the country.
The other high-risk countries whose nationals tend to overstay in Malaysia mainly for employment include India, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
“Under the visa-free scheme, Chinese nationals are now allowed to use the autogates freely and there have been abuses in the past,” the official said.
Ops Crack was launched by MACC in collaboration with the Immigration Department on July 28, with more than 10 individuals arrested, including company directors, foreign nationals, and police personnel, along with immigration officers.
A total of 1,306 PLKS involving multiple employment sectors were found to have been illegally approved at various locations nationwide.
