PUTRAJAYA — Immigration officers stationed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are now prohibited from using mobile phones while on duty to prevent a recurrence of “counter setting” syndicates, which allowed foreign nationals to enter the country without proper clearance.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner, Tan Sri Azam Baki, said this is among the key improvements the Immigration Department must implement, following the anti-graft agency’s clampdown on immigration officers who took bribes for colluding with these syndicate.
Azam said this is to prevent officers, including their supervisors, from being contacted by external parties while on duty.
Additionally, he said the MACC has recommended to the department that the schedule for assigning officers at the counters be finalised only after the officers have reported for duty and are already at the counter zone.
The assignments must also being managed by a separate party, he said.
“There are numerous areas that the Immigration Department needs to address, including officer selection, work procedures and methods for tackling corruption.
“The Governance Investigation Division (BPT) will carry out a two-month investigation into the entire work process and submit its recommendations to the Immigration Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs for comprehensive reforms,” he said during a special press conference today.
Azam pointed out that the main problem behind the ‘counter setting’ syndicates is weak internal control, which makes immigration officers easy targets for agents and syndicates.
Part of the problem is the absence of a proper rotation system for officers at KLIA1 and KLIA2, and this allows groups to form connections with both supervisors and frontline officers.
He also identified several other issues, including inadequate monitoring, insufficient oversight and gaps in work procedures, and said that the system for screening foreign nationals was easily manipulated, with lack of proper review mechanisms complicating efforts to detect and prevent such misconduct.
Azam said some officers have become too comfortable in their long-term assignments at KLIA, which has encouraged corrupt practices within the immigration workforce at both KLIA1 and KLIA2 entry points.
“Investigations have uncovered instances of immigration officers accepting bribes to allow foreign nationals who do not meet entry requirements to enter the country.
“There are no strict standard operating procedures or sufficient monitoring in place, and Immigration needs to take responsibility by launching large-scale operations to apprehend illegal immigrants,” he said.
He said the absence of third-party vetting in reviewing documents, such as return tickets and accommodation arrangements, also contributed to these issues, with the lure of hefty bribes further enticing officers to participate in such syndicates.
Azam earlier announced MACC’s seizure of RM800,000 in cash found in the bedrooms of two immigration officers allegedly involved in the “counter setting” syndicate.
The sum is part of the RM1.49 million seized during Ops Setting, an operation that began last month, to uncover the syndicates and the immigration officers working with them.
The two officers who kept the cash were a senior officer (KP22) in Pahang, who held RM518,250, and a KP19 officer in Melaka who hid RM248,443 under his bed.
60 people, including 49 immigration officers, have been arrested to date. A policeman and ten syndicate agents are also in custody.
Azam also said 215 bank accounts have been frozen, totalling RM3,601,305.32 and this includes 16 company accounts and 84 individual accounts.
The syndicates’ modus was to promote packages for entry into Malaysia through social media platforms such as Facebook and Telegram.
The agents would contact immigration officers via WhatsApp to arrange suitable entry dates for groups of foreigners visiting Malaysia as tourists. On the agreed date, the immigration officer would signal approval.
“The agent or syndicate would then send the immigration officer the passport details and photos of the arriving foreigners via WhatsApp. The officer would provide the group with the number of a ‘special counter’ to proceed to for smooth entry into Malaysia,” Azam said.
The bribes paid to the immigration officers involved ranged between RM200 and RM2,500. — September 18, 2024