PETALING JAYA: The Immigration Department has busted two foreigner-led syndicates, with one specialising in manipulating the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 (RTK 2.0) and the other in providing forged work permits and other documentation.
In two separate statements yesterday, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested following Wednesday’s raid on a location in Petaling Jaya.
“The suspect would target foreigners who had documentation problems and approach them to handle the RTK 2.0 paperwork for a fee of RM7,000 per head.
“Our investigations revealed that he was the mastermind of this syndicate,” he said, adding that the suspect also did not have a valid passport.
“We seized RM2,000 in cash, 188 copies of Bangladesh passports, five copies of Indonesian passports, four copies each of Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese passports, and one Thai passport, as well as various RTK 2.0 application forms and a laptop.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to target citizens from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand who have problems in Malaysia, such as lack of identity documents or visas,” he said.
Ruslin added that checks also revealed that the syndicate would register companies with Malaysian citizens in a bid to manipulate the RTK 2.0 and make a profit at the same time.
“The syndicate is believed to have been operating for a year,” he said, adding that the suspect has been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigation.
He said a Malaysian woman was also handed a notice to appear at the Immigration office to assist in investigations.
Meanwhile, in a separate raid on Wednesday, a Bangladeshi man and an Indian man were nabbed for allegedly operating a syndicate specialising in fake documents, offering forged passports, Temporary Work Visit Passes (PLKS), and Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) cards for between RM500 and RM1,000.
“The operation started at 2pm involving a team of officers and members of various ranks from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division and Special Tactical Force.
“These teams raided two premises in Petaling Jaya and Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur and arrested an Indian national and Bangladeshi national aged 28 and 31,” Ruslin said, adding that both suspects are believed to have led the operation.
“Both suspects did not own valid passports.
“We also detained two other Bangladeshi men aged 28, believed to be members of the syndicate,” he said, adding that one of the suspects did not have a valid passport while the other had overstayed.
He said they confiscated four copies of Indian passports belonging to other people, a duplicate Indian passport suspected to be fake, a copy of a Pakistani passport belonging to someone else, a copy of a Pakistani passport suspected to be fake, a copy of a Bangladesh passport, 26 PLKS suspected to be fake, two CIDB cards suspected to be fake, two laptops, and a printer.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to target clients from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan who have problems in Malaysia such as lack of documents or visas.
“The suspects would approach those who have this problem to offer their forgery services,” Ruslin said.
The suspects have been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigations.
