Immigration dept nabs 4 foreigners over sale of fake employment passes

 The special operation followed three weeks of surveillance.

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban (second from left) and his senior officers showing the fake temporary employment visit passes seized during the raids. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 The immigration department detained four foreign men at two locations in Kuala Lumpur yesterday on suspicion of being involved in the forgery of temporary employment visit passes (e-PLKS).

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the suspects were detained during a special operation conducted by the department’s enforcement division after three weeks of surveillance.

“The first raid was mounted on a shoplot in Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, where a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man was caught processing fake e-PLKS documents using a personal computer,” Bernama quoted him as saying at a press conference today.

Enforcement officials found several printed fake e-PLKS documents and multiple international passports in the suspect’s possession.

Zakaria said checks revealed that the suspect had a PLKS document under the services sector, valid until April 16, 2026.

“The suspect offered fake e-PLKS slips to clients, charging them RM50 per copy.

“He processed and printed the counterfeit passes and forged copies of business registration documents as well as related letters.

“He is believed to have been running the operation for nearly six months, raking in an estimated profit of between RM45,000 and RM50,000,” he said.

Zakaria said that in the second raid at Jalan Masjid India, three Indian nationals aged between 39 and 64 were detained for not possessing valid travel documents.

He said 498 passports from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal were found in their possession.

“The trio are believed to have acted as agents, offering fake e-PLKS slip printing services to foreign nationals, but they are not connected to the suspect in the first raid,” he said.

During the two raids, the department confiscated 504 passports from various countries, four personal computers, four printers, 23 Construction Industry Development Board cards, several fake e-PLKS slips, 40 i-Kads and RM94,332 in cash. - FMT