PENANG, 17 April 2009: A state immigration department officer has been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes from illegal immigrants to facilitate their exit from the country without documentation.
A team of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers nabbed the immigration officer at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas about 7am today.
Also picked up were 15 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and three intermidiaries on suspicion of offering the bribes to enable them to leave the country.
The illegals, aged between 20 and 40, and the intermidiaries were rounded up at the boarding area of the airport while on their way to catch a flight to Bangkok.
State MACC director Latifah Md Yatim said the arrest of the 19 suspects followed information from the public.
She said the Bangladeshis did not have valid documentation and were handed over to the immigration department for further action.
“The MACC intelligence unit officers had been monitoring the case for about two months before the arrests,” she said.
Latifah said initial investigations revealed that the illegal immigrants had allegedly paid the immigration officer between RM1,000 and RM2,000 to help them leave the country without proper documentation. — Bernama
