KUALA LUMPUR: A father and son have been arrested for allegedly running a document forgery syndicate out of a watch and photograph shop in Chow Kit, producing fake immigration credentials for foreign nationals.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the local pair, aged 60 and 34, were detained around 7 pm on Tuesday during a raid known as ‘Op Serkap’, following a month-long surveillance operation and public tip-offs.
The suspects are accused of offering falsified Temporary Employment Visit Passes (e-PLKS), altered immigration i-Kads and counterfeit cards from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).
Clients reportedly placed orders via WhatsApp, submitted details and paid online or in cash. Each document costs between RM60 and RM140 and could be completed within a day.
“The shop’s location in a busy area popular with migrant workers helped the syndicate attract clients, including those from outside the Klang Valley, through a network of agents who may also have been deceived,” he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Immigration headquarters today.
Officers seized a desktop computer, a high-tech card printer capable of producing hologram stickers, closed-circuit television (CCTV) equipment, RM4,000 in cash and roughly 50 counterfeit documents.
These included fake PLKS slips, CIDB cards and identity cards resembling Malaysia’s MyKad and MyKid, which are typically issued by the National Registration Department (JPN).
“This is a serious offence that poses a national security risk, as these documents could allow individuals to enter and work in the country illegally,” Wan Mohammed Saupee said.
The suspects are being investigated under Sections 55D and 56(1)(i) of the Immigration Act 1959/63. One of the men has a previous immigration offence on record.
Between January and May 20, the department conducted 272 operations across Kuala Lumpur, screening 3,587 individuals and arresting 1,789 undocumented migrants, according to Wan Mohammed Saupee.
He said authorities also detained 68 employers and opened 1,551 investigation papers, collecting RM4.59 million in compound fines, primarily for employing undocumented workers and abusing immigration passes.
The department has also received 96 applications under the relaunched Migrant Repatriation Programme 2.0 (PRM 2.0), which allows undocumented migrants to return to their home countries voluntarily, he added.
The initiative, which resumed on Monday, has so far collected RM37,920 in fines and processing fees.
