2 Filipino guards with fake MyKad arrested

PUTRAJAYA - A crackdown by the National Registration Department on security companies yesterday led to the arrest of two Filipinos who were using fake Malaysian identity cards.

Op ID saw the department raid companies in Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

The security guards in the companies were subjected to biometric checks on their MyKad.

Director-general of NRD Datuk Jariah Mohd Said said the two Filipinos were arrested when enforcement officers discovered that the MyKad they were using were not theirs. "The two were brought to the Sepang magistrate's court and were charged. They were sentenced to six months' jail," she said yesterday.

Jariah said the department would conduct an investigation on how the Filipinos, in their 30s, came into possession of the two MyKad.

The operation was carried out by a task force after Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had announced on Monday that the ministry would vet guards at 600 security firms nationwide.

It also came in the wake of the murder of an AmBank officer in Subang Jaya last Wednesday. The victim was shot dead by a guard said to have been hired without proper security checks.

Jariah said the operation involved more than 50 officers, who checked 282 security guards stationed in banks, supermarkets, goldsmiths and housing areas.

The operation found that some guards had no working passes but had social visit passes.

"But we were unable to take action against them because it was not under our jurisdiction. But for coming operations, we will cooperate with the Immigration Department so that action can be taken on those who abuse their social visit passes."

NRD discovered that 60 per cent of those checked were replacement guards. Jariah said the department would investigate why replacement guards were used, as well as to determine their authenticity.

She said Op ID would continue nationwide and hoped that security firms and employers would cooperate with the department.