Fake work permit syndicate busted in Klang Valley raids, three nabbed

KUALA LUMPUR: Three individuals, including two civil servants, were detained in connection with selling fake e-temporary work permits for foreign workers (PLKS) following raids in the Klang Valley.

The special operation was conducted at 6.42pm on Monday (June 16) at two separate locations in Maluri, Kuala Lumpur, and Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said acting on public information and two weeks of intelligence gathering, the department’s enforcement team detained two local women and a man aged between 40 and 43 suspected to be involved in the syndicate’s operations.

“Initial investigations revealed that one of the women and the man arrested are civil servants.

“Various items were seized including 101 passports from multiple countries (74 Sri Lankan passports, 13 from Myanmar, six from Vietnam, two from Indonesia, two from Ghana, and one each from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Syria), two mobile phones, a copy of a Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) registration document, and a luxury vehicle believed to have been used by the syndicate,” he said in a statement on Wednesday (June 18).

The syndicate’s modus operandi involved offering PLKS services to undocumented foreigners residing in the Klang Valley, he said.

“Investigations found that the details on the e-PLKS had been altered and did not exist in the official immigration system.

“The syndicate is believed to have charged RM11,000 per person and had been operating since late 2024,” he said.

All those detained individuals are being investigated under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966 and have been brought to the department’s headquarters in Putrajaya for further action.

“Two other local individuals have been issued notices to assist in the investigation.

“We are committed to taking firm 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).”