Five more officers from the Malaysian Immigration Department have been arrested to assist investigations under Op Crack, over their alleged involvement in hacking the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs) to illegally process and approve Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS).
The suspects, comprising four men and one woman aged between 30 and 40, were arrested after appearing to give statements at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters on Monday.
Their arrests bring the total number of Immigration officers detained under Op Crack to 11, following the arrest of six officers last week, including two from the department’s Information Technology Division.
MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman confirmed the arrests and said all five suspects would be brought before the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning for remand applications.
“They are being investigated under Sections 17(a) and 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009,” he said.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, the five officers are believed to have conspired to hack the MyIMMs system to ensure PLKS applications were approved without following proper procedures while avoiding detection.
MACC officers also seized five mobile phones belonging to the suspects as part of the investigation.
A source said the anti-graft agency has so far recorded statements from 17 individuals in connection with the case.
Investigators have also frozen nine bank accounts, including four personal accounts and two company accounts, involving approximately RM300,000.
Last week, the Immigration Department announced it would cancel all Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS) found to have been approved through irregular means and locate the pass holders for further action.
Earlier reports stated that 12 individuals, including six Immigration officers and one police officer, were arrested by MACC for allegedly being involved in a syndicate that hacked the MyIMMs system to unlawfully approve PLKS applications.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban previously said the cancellation of the passes was the first action taken following the discovery of irregular PLKS approvals uncovered during Op Crack, a joint operation with MACC.
Investigators believe the syndicate manipulated the system by exploiting 2011 PLKS quotas without paying the required levy before issuing 1,306 fraudulent PLKS, causing an estimated RM2.4 million in losses to the government.
