Hawala System Used In Abuse Of Visa Approvals Says Macc

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Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Azam Baki said the agency was still tracking several transactions made through the hawala system. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: The hawala system was used in cases linked to the foreign visa system approval for Bangladeshi nationals entering Malaysia, according to anti-corruption chief Azam Baki.
Azam, who is head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, said MACC was still tracking several transactions that the agency suspects were payments to obtain tourist visas, Bernama reported.
“We also suspect a large sum of money has been channelled through the hawala system to several places,” he said at a media conference here today.
Ads by KioskedHawala is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money brokers. They operate outside of, or parallel to, traditional banking, financial channels and remittance systems.
Azam added that the surplus of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia was a result of the abuse of the visa system, for which a clutch of enforcement agency officers has been detained, including immigration officers assigned to the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The investigation revealed they are believed to have colluded with employment agencies in Bangladesh and Malaysia to deliberately abuse the system since 2021, allowing Bangladeshi nationals to work in Malaysia.
4 arrested in rare earths case
Azam also said four people have been arrested in connection with the rare earths mining scandal in Kedah and that MACC will be calling more witnesses for further investigation.
The commission was not just investigating the financial issue, but also the compliance of approvals, he said. - FMT

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