Latest incident: Ruslin (centre) showing the fake MyKad to the media after the sting operation in Puchong. With him are deputy director Saiful Yazan Alwi (right) and director of enforcement Sanusi Wahab. — LOW BOON TAT/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: Despite the many security features in the MyKad, fake ones are still being widely distributed.
A syndicate providing such fake IDs to foreigners may have been in operation for more than five years, producing MyKad that looks almost 100% genuine.
It can only be discovered to be fake if viewed under ultra-violet light.
The activities of the syndicate came into the limelight again after a special operation by the National Registration Department (NRD) led to the arrest of 29 foreign workers, most of whom had fake MyKad.
They claimed to have bought them for RM300 each. One suspect, however, had in his possession a genuine one belonging to a man from Sabah.
A 17-man enforcement team intercepted a van ferrying 14 foreigners on Monday morning. Upon inspection, 13 of them had fake MyKad. The other was in possession of a document issued in the Sabahan’s name.
A follow-up raid was carried out, leading to the arrest of 15 foreigners, all of whom also had fake MyKad.
NRD director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said checks showed that all the fake MyKad had non- existent Sabah addresses on them.
Ruslin said his officers will be looking for the original owner to find out how his document was now in someone else’s possession.
“We want to find out if he had lost his MyKad but did not report the loss or if he had given it to someone else.
“I would like to remind the public that it is an offence to allow someone to borrow or use your MyKad,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Ruslin said the special ops, codenamed Op Pintas, was carried out at the Puchong industrial area early yesterday.
“Residents there had complained to us, alleging that foreigners working in the industrial area had fake identity cards,” he said.
He said the 29 suspects, comprising three men and 26 women aged between 19 and 70, admitted they were from Indonesia.
They said they had bought the MyKad from an agent in the Klang Valley.
“They claim they had bought them for RM300. They could not give us any description of the agent, believed to be a local, as they had never met.
“After they placed the order for the fake identity cards, a runner would deliver them,” he said.
Ruslin said investigators were still looking for possible links between this case and fake MyKad incidents over the past years.
“There may be a possibility as some of the suspects informed us that they have had the fake MyKad for five years. We are looking for clues on the whereabouts of this agent. We believe he is always on the move,” he added.
From 2019, the NRD has recorded 477 cases of fake MyKad. The actual number still undetected might be much larger.
