JOHOR BARU, March 6 — Three Johor Immigration Department officers and two more Malaysians have been remanded for five days to assist Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigators in the case of alleged graft involving the illegal entry of foreigners to the country.
The remand order against the suspects, consisting of four men and a woman, aged between 35 and 46, was issued by Senior Assistant Registrar Nurkhalida Farhana Abu Bakar.
The suspects were remanded to facilitate investigations under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009 for corrupt practices.
Their five-day remand ends this Sunday.
Yesterday, the suspects were detained and arrested in a joint Johor MACC and State Immigration Department operation in several locations in the state.
The three Immigration Department officers were arrested while they were on duty at Senai International Airport in Kulai, while the two locals were apprehended at the Johor MACC office and in Larkin here.
It is learnt that the local woman arrested was also the wife of an Immigration officer who was earlier taken into custody by MACC investigators.
Earlier, Johor MACC in a statement, said the operation was based on discrepancies that were detected by the Johor Immigration Department’s integrity unit during a periodic integrity compliance check at Senai International Airport.
It said the Immigration Department’s integrity unit had detected elements of gratification involving its officers and foreigners after coming across several WhatsApp application text messages after checking their mobile phones.
It is learnt that the text messages allegedly contained offer and acceptance of money from the foreigners who wanted to enter Malaysia without going through the proper procedures.
This was in contravention of the Immigration Department director-general’s standing instructions (Bill. 03 of 2019) and the Immigration Act 1956/63.
The two locals arrested were believed to be acting as middlemen for the foreigners and Immigration officers.
MACC did not disclose the nationalities of the foreigners.
