Fraud Gang: Bangladeshis arrested in Malaysia

Malaysian Immigration Department has reportedly busted a "document forgery" ring and nabbed four of its members, including three Bangladeshi men.

One of the Bangladeshis, aged 39, was claimed to be the "mastermind" of the ring, who would earn between RM 8,000 and RM 10,000 a month from the forged documents.

The syndicate was crippled following two months of surveillance.

Malaysian English-language daily The Star yesterday ran a report on its online version on the incident, after the country's national news agency Bernama ran a similar report on Friday.

None of the reports, however, mentioned names and details of the Bangladeshi suspects.

According to The Star report, the immigration department on July 9 raided a house in Cheras township of Selangor. The house was used as a base for forgery.

Immigration officials arrested two Bangladeshi men and a Mongolian woman from there.

That arrest led the department to another house dwelled by the mastermind in Old Klang Road in Selangor the next day, reported Bernama.

Malaysian Immigration Director General Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the 39-year-old suspect has been residing in Malaysia on a Temporary Employment Visit Pass, also known as PLKS, for the past 10 years.

He was involved in the service sector. He began dabbling in document forgery last year, the official said.

"He charged RM 300 for a single forged PLKS pass and RM 100 for a forged passport," the official said in a statement on Friday.

At the Old Klang Road premise, the department found nine forged Bangladeshi passports, forged PLKS passes, a laptop, a printer and various other equipment to forge passports and also Nissan Sentra vehicle, all of which were seized, Bernama reported.

"The suspect is believed to have made profits up between RM 8,000 and RM 10,000 a month for the forged documents of which proceeds were sent to Bangladesh," Khairul Dzaimee said.

He said the suspect would drive around looking for potential clients around Kuala Lumpur before offering his services for forged PLKS passes and passports.