PUTRAJAYA, March 7 — The Immigration Department (JIM) has busted two syndicates masterminded by foreign nationals and a local for falsifying documents, in two separate raids in Selangor recently.
Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said operations of the two syndicates over the last three years had caused the government to lose RM7.2 million from levies for temporary employment visit passes in the services sector.
He said the department seized 1,150 passports that belonged to mostly Bangladeshis and detained 17 Bangladeshis and a local resident in both raids.
In the first raid at a residence in Ampang on March 5, eight Bangladeshis were arrested for falsifying documents and social visit pass stickers.
In a press conference at the department headquarters here today, Khairul Dzaimee said the syndicate’s modus operandi was to collect the passports of Bangladesh nationals from Penang, Melaka and Johor, and then print and paste the fake JIM stickers.
In the first raid, 110 Bangladesh passports, seven fake JIM stickers, six smartphones, three laptops and a printer were confiscated, he said.
In the second raid in Subang, the department seized 1,040 fake international passports and original passports containing fake stickers for temporary employment visit passes.
The department also arrested nine Bangladeshis and a local man in the second raid, he said.
“All the 18 individuals detained are being investigated under Section 55D of the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said. — Bernama
