Immigration dept busts foreign worker syndicate using fake permits

 

The Immigration department said foreign workers who wanted to obtain the fake permit to work in factories were charged RM6,000 by the syndicate.

PUTRAJAYA: The immigration department said it has smashed a syndicate supplying illegal migrant workers using fake temporary visit permits (PLKS) in a two-day operation which began on Wednesday.

A total of 43 men from India, 20 Bangladeshis and two Pakistanis aged between 25 and 45 were detained at a factory and a foreign worker dormitory in Selangor as well as the syndicate’s operation office in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said a 45-year-old Indian national was believed to be the mastermind, while a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man, who was detained in Seremban, was suspected of being a senior member of the syndicate.

“Initial investigation shows the Indian man holds an authentic expatriate pass while the Bangladeshi was using a PLKS to move freely in the country,” he said in a statement today.

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He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to set up a company supplying foreign labour and offer workers to employers.

“Once an agreement has been reached (with their clients), the syndicate will supply foreign workers carrying fake PLKS. The employers or factories believed the workers were legitimate based on the sticker on the passport,” he said.

Ruslin said each foreign worker who wanted to obtain the PLKS to work in factories would be charged RM6,000 by the syndicate.

“At the same time, the employers or factories using such workers will have to pay the workers’ salaries through the syndicate,” he said.

They seized 40 Indian passports, 20 Bangladeshi passports and two Pakistani passports with fake PLKS stickers and found eight unused fake stickers.

The suspects and workers are being detained at the Semenyih Immigration Depot for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Immigration Regulations 1963 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. - FMT