Immigration dept detains 20, seizes 341 passports in foreign worker quota abuse probe

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 9 — The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) detained 20 individuals aged between 23 and 47 during a special operation in Taman Datuk Ahmad Razali here yesterday over suspected involvement in a syndicate abusing foreign worker quotas.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation, which began at 7.30 am, was conducted by the Intelligence and Special Operations Division at the Immigration Headquarters in Putrajaya, in collaboration with the Strategic Compliance Branch and the Intelligence and Profiling Department of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

He said the operation was carried out following public information and intelligence gathered by JIM.

“Those detained comprised two Bangladeshi men believed to be the business owner and manager, six local female employees, and 12 foreign customers—nine Bangladeshi men and three Indonesian women.

“The operation team also seized 265 Bangladeshi passports, 63 Indonesian passports, 12 Pakistani passports and one Indian passport, as well as RM6,700 in cash believed to be proceeds from customer payments,” he said in a statement today.

Zakaria said preliminary investigations found that the syndicate allegedly used an “A-to-B” employer arrangement, whereby a company (Employer A) obtained approval for foreign worker quotas and brought in workers under Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS), but the workers were subsequently supplied to another company (Employer B) for profit instead of working for the original employer.

He said the syndicate was also suspected of submitting information that did not reflect the actual profiles of the companies involved to obtain approval for foreign worker quotas.

Further checks found that the foreign workers brought into the country did not work for the companies that had applied for the quotas but instead worked independently for other companies.

“This activity is believed to generate profits of between RM3,800 and RM5,000 per worker. To evade tax payments, the companies involved were found to have declared profits far below their actual financial records and failed to report personal income for the years of assessment 2020 to 2023,” he said.

Zakaria said the business owner, manager and one local employee were detained on suspicion of committing offences under Section 56(1)(l) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966.

The 12 foreign customers were also detained for suspected offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963, he added.

He said the business owner was also being investigated by IRB over the alleged failure to report income and submission of inaccurate income reports under Sections 112(3) and 113(2) of the Income Tax Act 1967.

Zakaria stressed that JIM would continue to take firm action against illegal activities, including targeting those who plan, manage and profit from the abuse of foreign worker quotas. — Bernama