Bangladeshi man arrested for document forgery syndicate
KUALA LUMPUR: A document forgery syndicate led by a Bangladeshi man was exposed after his arrest by the Immigration Department (JIM) during a raid at a hotel in Chow Kit yesterday.
According to Harian Metro, Immigration Director-General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the 24-year-old man was apprehended through a special operation conducted by a team from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division, Immigration Headquarters Putrajaya, at 8:30 a.m.
He stated that the operation was carried out based on two weeks of intelligence gathering.
“Interrogation revealed that the suspect was using a hotel room as the base for his activities.
“An initial check found that the suspect had a valid student pass to deceive authorities while engaging in document forgery activities,” Ruslin said in a statement today.
Ruslin added that authorities seized 43 Bangladeshi passport covers, 37 suspected fake Bangladeshi passports, 29 Indian passport covers, 18 Indonesian passport covers, seven Nepalese passport covers, and five Filipino passport covers.
“We also confiscated nine electronic e-visa documents, six suspected fake Indonesian passports, as well as a laptop and a printer.
“Additionally, we seized suspected fake medical examination documents for foreign workers (Fomema), printed passport pages of Bangladeshi passports, and various equipment used for producing fake documents,” he said.
The suspect is believed to have been operating individually, offering fake passport services to foreign nationals from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Indonesia who lacked travel documents.
“He was also found to use these (fake) passports to obtain Fomema documents.
“The suspect is believed to have been active for the past three months, charging between RM100 and RM150 for each passport.
“He is also believed to have produced between 50 and 100 fake passports daily,” he added.
According to Ruslin, the suspect has been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966, and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
“We have also issued a notice for a local man to report to the office to assist with the investigation.
“JIM will continue to take strict action against any parties found violating the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966, the Immigration Regulations 1963, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Atipsom),” he said.