16 minutes
KUALA LUMPUR: A 17-year-old teenager expected to sit for his SPM examinations this year was among two suspects held by police for their alleged involvement in a syndicate that sold fake driving licenses.
Kuala Lumpur police commercial crimes investigations department (CCID) chief ACP Mohd Mahidisham Ishak said the teenager and his 22-year-old accomplice were arrested in a raid at a house in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, following a police report by a victim on Friday.
He said earlier the 40-year-old man had spotted a advertisement in Facebook that offered driving licenses without having to go through formalities with the Road Transport Department (RTD).
Mohd Mahidisham said the victim contacted the a phone number on the advertisement and was offered a driving license for a fee of RM490.
However, he said on promptly paying up the sum, the suspects demanded for more payments, claiming it was for various fees.
Suspecting something was amiss, th victim made a police report.
Mohd Mahidisham said the KL and Cheras CCID managed to trace the suspects before apprehending them.
He said the suspects were allegedly behind the activities of producing fake driving licenses since 2016.
He said they are being held for investigations under a remand order.
Mohd Mahidisham said police also seized several equipment that were used to produce the fake driving licenses.
He advised the public to obtain their driving licenses by legitimate means.
Thousands of motorists are believed to be using fake driving licenses or notoriously known as “lesen terbang” obtained from syndicates and crooked RTD personnel.
In Sept, 2018, the Road Transport Ministry identified 14,000 motorists including foreigners who held fake driving licenses.
This was uncovered after 12 RTD officers including a deputy director were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly issuing the dud licenses for between RM2,000 and RM3,500.
