4 Malaysian immigration officers at JB-Singapore checkpoint arrested over 'flying passport' scheme

Four enforcement officers at Malaysia's Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex were nabbed for allegedly accepting bribes in what authorities call a "flying passport" scheme.

The term refers to when a person's passport is carried across the border by a third party and stamped without the holder being physically present.

The passports are later returned to the owners, who had entered Malaysia illegally. This allows them to bypass immigration processes, reported The Star.

The officers are suspected of receiving RM3,000 (S$910) in bribes, according to the New Straits Times (NST).

The two main suspects were detained during an unannounced inspection at the checkpoint on Friday (July 25). Another two were arrested for allegedly abetting the scheme on Saturday.

BSI CIQ Commander Roszita Dim said the two are a 31-year-old officer and a 49-year-old supervisor, reported Bernama.

During the operation, authorities found suspicious data entries linked to the ID of an officer manning a car zone counter, including records of foreigners identified as problematic visitors that would need to be manually corrected.

About RM2,800 in cash were found at the car clearance counter, and 14 foreign passports stashed in a bag hidden in the ceiling of another counter.

Two mobile phones were reportedly seized from the officer at the car counter, and another two from the motorcycle zone supervisor.

"Initial investigations suggest that the cash and mobile phones are linked to bribery transactions involving the 'flying passport' scheme," NST quoted a source from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as saying.

The suspects allegedly received around RM200 for each passport stamped.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com