Ex-Immigration Dept staff suspected of creating pathway for PLKS forgery syndicate - Azam Baki

KUALA LUMPUR: A former staff of the Immigration Department is among the individuals suspected to have created the pathway for the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS) forgery syndicate to hack into the department’s database system, according to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki.

He said the service of the staff, however, was terminated several years ago.

“It was believed that the staff had access to the immigration database system and had allowed the syndicate to steal the passwords used by immigration officers.

“They used various equipment, such as a router, to hack into the system to the extent of being able to duplicate the software and print the PLKS outside the immigration office,” he told the press conference on Op Hack at the MACC headquarters here today.

Azam said five suspects, including one with the title “Datuk” had been remanded for six days from today to facilitate further investigation into the case.

Azam said at 9 pm yesterday, the MACC had frozen 147 accounts worth RM9.9 million involving 30 individuals and 11 companies allegedly involved in the syndicate.

Meanwhile, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said acting on a tip-off, the department had set up a special team in the middle of last year to gather more information.

He said it was learned that the hacking of the immigration database was done on a large scale and that the department required the MACC’s assistance to probe into it.

“The special team has done the intelligence work and gathered as much information as possible that led to the discovery of the syndicate. In fact, the Home Ministry had also taken note of the issue.

“To address this problem, the government has approved a new system called the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) to replace the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs) which was found to have been manipulated and misused to approve foreign workers quota,” he said.

Khairul Dzaimee said the new system would be launched later this month and would take a year to be fully operational.

Yesterday, the MACC crippled the PLKS forgery syndicate by arresting five individuals, including a man with a ‘Datuk’ title, in a large-scale operation.

The arrest of the five suspects also succeeded in solving the problem faced by the Immigration Department, which had had its PLKS system hacked into by the syndicate.

Earlier today, the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court issued a six-day remand order against the five suspects, aged between 33 and 42, to facilitate further investigations into the case.

The remand order was issued by Magistrate Fatina Amyra Abdul Jalil upon application from the MACC.

-- BERNAMA