Three immigration officers remanded over bribery

PUTRAJAYA: Three immigration officers were remanded for five days from today to assist in investigations into a corruption case.

The remand orders on the officers, one of them a woman, were issued by Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim here today.

According to a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) source, the officers, aged between 33 and 35, were detained between noon and 5.50 pm at the MACC headquarters here yesterday.

The personnel are suspected to have received bribes to expedite the process of issuing passes to foreigners to return to their country of origin without going through the Online Appointment System (STO).

According to the source, the officers have been dealing with a middleman since the implementation of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) to manage the issuance of passes to foreigners who have overstayed in the country to return to their country of origin.

The source said the three suspects were said to have received bribes of between RM300 and RM500 for each pass issued without going through the STO.

Yesterday, according to the MACC source, two individuals, including an immigration officer, were also remanded for five days to assist in investigations into the same case.

Putrajaya MACC director Hasbilah Mohamad Salleh confirmed the arrests. -Bernama