A deputy director at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is among three more immigration officers who have been arrested on suspicion of involvement with a syndicate falsifying travel document border stamps, according to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) sources today.
The sources said the suspects, aged between 38 and 54, were arrested at the MACC headquarters yesterday.
“The three immigration officers were taken to the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court for remand (application) under Section 117 of the Penal Code,” a source said.
The source said so far 53 people, including 33 immigration officers at KLIA, KLIA2 and Bangunan Sultan Ismail Johor Bahru, Johor, had been nabbed under the Ops Selat launched on November 16.
Ops Selat, conducted by MACC with the cooperation of the Immigration Department, involved raids in Putrajaya; Johor Baru, Johor; Kuching, Sarawak; and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Yesterday, MACC investigation director Datuk Norazlan Mohd Razali said more people might be arrested in connection with the syndicate.
Norazlan said investigations were being conducted under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009 and Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
It was reported recently that the MACC had busted a syndicate involving Immigration Department officers, which caused a serious breach in the country’s borders.
Investigation thus far revealed that the syndicate involved an international crime smuggling syndicate from China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
The counter setting process at the KLIA and klia2 was done by international syndicate who comprised agents in their respective countries.
So far, more than RM800,000 in cash had been seized along with 26 luxury vehicles and four high-powered motorcycles. Also seized were houses, land and jewellery.
What is shocking from MACC’s probe was that an Immigration personnel, with a KP 19 grade, was able to possess four luxury vehicles such as a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Mustang, a Range Rover and an Audi.
The vehicles were registered under the names of two Chinese nationals, believed to be agents operating in Malaysia and two local agents. MACC had identified them and was in the process of tracking them down.
One of the local agents helped to store the vehicles, and they were only used by the Immigration personnel as a repayment for handling the counter setting at klia2.