KOTA KINABALU, Dec 3 — The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) has found that the nationalising of illegal immigrants in the Sabah was not a politically-driven initiative as often claimed, but was the work of illegal syndicates with ties to corrupt officials in government agencies.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa who released the report here today said that the corrupt syndicates and individuals were responsible for the issuance of genuine Malaysian ICs and citizenship to illegal immigrants with the involvement of government officers in related departments.

“The syndicates involved were motivated by economic gains. The commission did not bring up any political issues,” he said in response to a question during a press conference after a media briefing on the results of the RCI.

Earlier, Ali said that the issuance of ICs and citizenship by the National Registration Department (NRD) were done legally according to procedure and in line with the Federal Constitution.

He said that the government has taken action against those responsible for issuing the documents illegally, adding that it clearly shows that the issue of “project IC” did not arise.

During the commission’s public hearings from January to September last year, the panel heard 211 witnesses including civil servants and Filipinos talk of covert operations that gave Malaysian ICs to foreigners which allowed them to vote in the bid to topple the PBS-led Sabah government.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s name had come up several times during the hearing in relation to “Projek IC”, the citizenship-for-votes initiative blamed for the boom in Sabah’s foreigner population.

In his testimony, however, Dr Mahathir said he had never heard “until recently” of “Projek IC”.

The country’s longest-serving prime minister also blamed “government officers” for the illegal awarding of identity cards (ICs) to foreigners, appearing to absolve himself from all blame over the controversial project that reportedly occurred from the 1980s onwards.

The commission’s long-awaited report was finally released today in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, six months after the royal panel presented its findings to the prime minister and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in May. It is unclear what had caused the delay.