KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department has busted a syndicate believed to have raked in up to RM15,000 a month by forging immigration endorsement security stamps, following the arrest of three individuals in Kajang, Selangor, and Pandan Perdana on Tuesday.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation was carried out at 11am by the Intelligence and Special Operations Division of Immigration headquarters following a month of surveillance of two residential premises.
He said the three suspects, comprising a Malaysian man and two Thai women aged between 40 and 45, were believed to be the syndicate’s mastermind and members.
“Preliminary checks revealed that one of the Thai women holds a Long-Term Social Visit Pass as the spouse of a Malaysian citizen, while the other holds a Social Visit Pass (PLS),” he said in a statement today.
Zakaria said the syndicate’s modus operandi involved forging immigration endorsement security stamps to make them appear to have been issued at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) entry point in a bid to deceive the authorities.
He said the syndicate targeted foreigners, particularly Thai nationals, who were staying in the country without valid passes or had overstayed.
“The syndicate is believed to have promoted its services through WhatsApp, charging clients between RM70 and RM100 for each forged immigration endorsement security stamp placed in their passports,” he said.
He said clients only needed to submit their passports without meeting syndicate members in person, in an attempt to avoid detection.
“There is also a possibility that some clients who used the syndicate’s services were unaware that the immigration endorsement security stamps in their passports were forged,” he said.
He said the items seized included two forged visit pass endorsement stamps, one forged exit endorsement stamp, two rubber stamps bearing forged endorsements, two date stamps and five red and blue ink pads.
Also seized were six Thai passports, a Thai Border Pass, five mobile phones, two notebooks and keys to the premises, he said.
Zakaria said the case was being investigated under Sections 56(1A)(c) and 56(1)(l) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.