By Xinhua
Kuala Lumpur : The Malaysian immigration department has exposed a syndicate scam of offering so-called “privilege cards” to illegal immigrants, local media reported Wednesday.
The cards, issued by a company in Kuala Lumpur, supposedly protect immigrants from being arrested by the department. The scam was discovered after reports were lodged with the immigration enforcement department several days ago, the department director Ishak Mohamad said.
“On Monday, we went to the company’s office and found five workers on the premises. We also found 48 privilege cards and several stacks of application forms that were being processed,” the New Straits Times quoted Ishak as saying.
The department detained two men on the premises. One is believed to be the founder and adviser of the company, while the other is an illegal Indonesian immigrant working there, he said.
Further checks showed the company also offered legal advice to foreign workers and helped them to get insurance and discounts for flights and ferry fares.
The company’s employees showed three letters, which were purportedly from senior government officials to prove that their operations were legitimate, Ishak said.
“Two of the letters were only to support a survey that the company was undertaking while the other, which was supposedly from the Home Affairs Ministry, was forged,” he said.
The department had asked the Companies Commission of Malaysia to suspend the company’s licence as it had strayed from its stated purpose of providing services to legal immigrants, and instead involved in illegal activities.