Syndicate issuing fake Bangladeshi passports busted

GEORGE TOWN: A syndicate specialising in issuing fake Bangladeshi passports was busted by the immigration department's enforcement division following the arrests of nine Bangladeshis including the mastermind.
The nine, who included a woman and her two children, were arrested at an apartment in Jelutong around 9.30pm on Monday.
Immigration department's director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali told a press conference that the syndicate was believed to be actively operating for sometime.
"We have been monitoring them for the past six months."
He said that the 38-year-old Bangladeshi man was believed to be the mastermind in falsifying the documents and he also acted as an agent in dealing with some local employers.
He said the other culprits, aged between 25 and 35, were also held together with the mastermind's 27-year-old wife and their two children.
"We found 94 fake Bangladeshi passports and RM15,000."
The immigration authorities were probing whether the syndicate has more accomplices
Those detained were escorted to the Seberang Jaya immigration detention center for further investigation.
"There is no compromise. We will investigate under the Passport Act 1966."
Under Section 12B of the Passport Act, those found to have falsified passports, can be fined no less than RM15,000, not more than RM100,000, and imprisonmened not less than two years, not more than 10 years, and whipped not more than six strokes.