Forgery racket with Lankan link in Malaysia busted
KUALA LUMPUR: Mala- ysian immigration officers have arrested two Sri
Lankan nationals, believed to be part of a syndicate issuing forged
passports and personal identification documents to their fellow
countrymen, news reports said yesterday.
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Officers
discover 20 Malaysian passports, a British passport and seven
Malaysian identification cards which had all been tampered with
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The suspects, both in their 20s, were caught in a raid on Sunday at
an apartment in the capital Kuala Lumpur, the Star daily reported.
The officers discovered 20 Malaysian passports, a British passport
and seven Malaysian identification cards which had all been tampered
with, and were believed to have been sold for 15,000 ringgit (US $
4,348) each.
The syndicate, believed to have been in operation for at least a
year, worked as a direct business deal between the syndicate members and
those wanting to purchase the forged documents, Immigration Enforcement
Director Ishak Mohammed said.
“I can safely say they made a lot of money doing this and no locals
were involved,” Ishak said, adding that the social passes of the two
suspects had expired and they were in the country as illegals.
The Malaysian Government has recently withdrawn the visa-on-arrival
privilege for Sri Lankan nationals due to the high number of illegal
migrants and forgery cases, Ishak added.
Those caught forging travel documents face jail and whipping under
the country’s immigration laws.
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