Either Graft Is So Entrenched Or There S No Motivation To Eradicate Graft In Malaysian Immigration Fraternity

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SUCH is seemingly the conclusion of truth seeker FreeMalaysian (@FreeMsian) after revisiting a five-year-old case whereby the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seized those four luxury vehicles belonging to one of the immigration officers apprehended for involvement with the border stamp forgery syndicate.

Recall that the graft buster had in November 2020 detained the then only “Grade KP 19 civil servant (junior support staff position)” for owning four luxury cars – Rolls Royce Phantom, Mustang, Audi and Range Rover.
According to MACC, the cars were registered in the names of two Chinese nationals who are believed to be Chinese foreign worker agents operating in Malaysia and two local male agents.
Detailing the case on X by referencing a post dated Nov 20, 2020 by broadcast journalist Fareez Azman (@FareezAzmann), the poster simply deduced that “after fice years, the case has not gone anywhere”.
He started by revealing the list of 10 suspects comprising immigration officers and syndicate members who were remanded to facilitate the MACC’s investigation at that time.

According to FreeMalaysian, the “immigration boss” was charged for a bribery of RM1,000 in 2021 while his staff who received RM310,800 was charged under penal code which only carries a maximum of two years jail alongside the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
Interestingly, he could not find any charges levelled against a KP19 officer by the name of Badrisesyah Mohd Razif.

Nevertheless, three KLIA-based KP19 grade immigration officers from the million-ringgit bribery gang were only fined RM9,000 and RM28,000 (no jail). They were Mohammad Zukliah Ibrahim, Mohd Syahmi Sapawi and Danny Supil (not in that remand list).

As per FreeMalaysian’s searches, another two officers were also fined RM15,000 and RM10,000 (one was in that remand list).
“They were Mohamad Izhmi Mohammad Noor, 35, and Muhammad Rushdi Zainal, 27. Again no jail term. Million-ringgit bribery really pays very well for these immigration guys,” lamented the poster.

Another KP19 from that list, Mohd Irwan Jamil, 39 was charged for a bribery of RM70,525. He was fined RM15,000 and sentenced to jail for just 14 days.
“Bribery RM70k vs fine of RM15k. Bribery is really worth it for traitors like this,” remarked FreeMalaysian.

Delving further, the poster shared that another two KP 19 immigration officers were only charged for a bribery of RM15,500 to which they pleded not guilty. They were Mohamad Izhmi Mohamad Nor, 35, and Muhammad Ali Mohammed Redzwa, 27 (name in the remand list).
“(However), the current status is unknown,” revealed FreeMalaysian. “No details on the two Chinese guys in the MACC 2020 remand list extracted from court records. A name search of Kan Wan Hoong and Chin Kah Yong produce no results of any court cases.”

Worse still, according to the poster, is that there is no court record whatsoever “about these corrupt guys having Rolls Royce Phantom or any other luxury cars seized”.
“Looks like all of them got away by paying cheap fines. If this is your anti-corruption effort, there is no way corruption is going to be eliminated,” fumed FreeMalaysian.
“It seems corruption is a big business in this country … As these cases have shown, you’ll eventually be released to enjoy all the millions you’ve earned corruptly after you get caught.” 

 
Editor’s Note: Are law-abiding Malaysians to expect the above ‘chain of events’ to recur in this recent post by BFM News (@NewsBFM) of an Immigration officer found with RM1.5 mil in multiple accounts, including Tabung Haji and Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB)?
According to the business radio station, the MACC traced RM1 mil to Tabung Haji accounts under his name, his wife’s and children’s while another RM400,000 was deposited in ASB. Additionally, the graft buster also seized RM60,000 worth of jewellery and RM13,900 in cash.

In a separate case, RM125,000 hidden on a roof and RM15,000 in cash were discovered at the home of a female officer while, another suspect was found with RM80,000 in jewellery.
MACC said the three suspects were linked to a counter-setting syndicate and believed to have accepted bribes to ease foreigner entry.
This could be part of the MACC’s seizure of 3.2kg of jewellery worth an estimated RM1.6 mil from six people believed to be involved in counter-setting.
Five of those detained were Immigration Department officers who allegedly accepted bribes to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into Malaysia.

The items were seized by the Selangor MACC during raids last week which also uncovered 75 pieces of gold worth about RM400,000. All in all, 70 bank accounts were also frozen, bringing the total value of seized assets to RM3.3 mil.
Enforcement officers allegedly received up to RM50,000 a month in bribes from counter-setting syndicates to facilitate foreigners to enter Malaysia illegally.
They were paid up to RM2,500 per person via mule accounts or in cash, reported Malay language news portal Sinar Harian.

- focus malaysia

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