PUTRAJAYA: A syndicate which supplies illegal immigrants with fake temporary visit permits (PLKS) and is believed to have raked in RM4.5mil to RM5mil a year, has been busted by the Immigration Department in a special operation over two days since Wednesday (April 5).
In the operation, 43 men from India, 20 Bangladeshis and two Pakistanis aged from 25 to 45 were detained at a factory, a foreign worker dormitory in Selangor and the syndicate's office in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said an Indian national, 45, is believed to be the syndicate mastermind while a Bangladeshi man, 30, suspected to be a senior syndicate person was arrested in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
"Initial investigation found the Indian man holds an authentic expatriate pass while the Bangladeshi was using a fake permit to move freely around in the country," he said in a statement on Friday (April 7).
He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to set up a company supplying foreign labour and offering workers to employers.
"When a deal is struck, the syndicate will supply foreign workers carrying fake permits and the employers or factories believe the workers are legitimate based on the sticker on the passport," he said.
Ruslin said the syndicate would charge each foreign worker RM6,000 for the fake permit.
"At the same time, the employers or factories using such workers will have to pay the workers' salaries through the syndicate," he said.
In the raid, 62 passports, comprising 40 from India, 20 from Bangladesh passports and two passports from Pakistan, all with fake permit stickers, were seized together with wight unused fake permit stickers.
He said all all suspects were detained at the Semenyih Immigration Depot for further investigation for violations under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Immigration Regulations 1963 and Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. – Bernama
