SYNDICATES BEHIND FAKE E-CARDS
More than 50 cases detected since last month
THE Immigration Department is hot on the heels of syndicates selling fake Enforcement Cards (E-Cards) that can fetch up to RM4,000 each. More than 50 cases were detected since last month. The department believes there are several syndicates, made up of locals and foreigners, behind the trade.
Its director-general, Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, said the syndicates were believed to be active in several states, especially in areas where many employers and workers were detained during a recent crackdown.
Speaking after attending a corruption-free pledge by 200 Kelantan Immigration officers at the Tanah Merah detention camp here yesterday, Mustafar said the states with higher arrests included Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor.
“These syndicates sell fake cards to employers and foreign workers for between RM1,000 and RM4,000 each.
“Most of their clients are foreigners who have been in Malaysia for between five and nine years, especially those from Bangladesh and Myanmar.”
He said more than 8,000 foreign workers and 157 employers were held by the department in the crackdown.
The operation, which started on July 1, covers factories, plantation, and the construction, agriculture and services sector.
The E-Card provides illegal foreigners a temporary work pass in the allowed sectors.
Registered employers and illegal workers have to obtain a passport from embassies before they could be legalised under the programme.
On another matter, he said the online payment system implemented at Immigration offices was expected to be operational by year end.
“Through this system, payment to the department can be made online.
“This move will prevent direct payment to officers, or face-to face payment, which eliminates the possibility of corruption,” he said.
Present were Kelantan Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission director Datuk Moh Shamsuddin Yusuf and state Immigration director Wan Mohammad Saupee Wan Yusoff.