Immigration busts fake passport syndicate, three Indonesians held in KL

PETALING JAYA – The Immigration Department has broken up a travel document forgery syndicate, detaining three Indonesian nationals including the man believed to be its mastermind in a Special Operation at Taman Sri Kuching and Taman Bukit Cheras here yesterday.

The raids, which began at about 11pm, were carried out by officers from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division of the Immigration Headquarters in Putrajaya following a month of surveillance and information from the public.

Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation led to the arrest of an Indonesian man believed to be the syndicate's mastermind, along with another man and a woman of the same nationality believed to be syndicate members.

"Initial checks found that the mastermind held a Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS) for the construction sector, while the two other foreigners were found to have overstayed," he said in a statement today.

119 passports seized

He said the inspection also uncovered and seized 119 passports believed to have been forged — 85 Indonesian, 22 Myanmar, seven Bangladeshi, two Vietnamese, two Indian and one Nepali.

"Also seized were a printing machine, several mobile phones and RM1,500 in cash believed to be proceeds of the syndicate's activities," he said.

Zakaria said the syndicate offered its services to foreigners around the Klang Valley who had failed the Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (FOMEMA) health screening or were classified as unfit.

"The forged passports would be amended or modified so that they could be used during the health screening process. The fee charged was between RM80 and RM130 for each passport," he said.

Fifth such case

He added that the arrests marked the fifth case involving a syndicate using the same modus operandi, believed to have been active since early this year.

The alleged mastermind is being investigated under Section 12(1)(f) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while the two other suspects are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the same act.