KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has dismantled a syndicate accused of hacking the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs) to fraudulently process and approve Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS), leading to the arrest of 12 individuals and exposing an estimated RM2.4 million loss to the government.
The coordinated operation, carried out with the Immigration Department of Malaysia (JIM), saw the arrest of two company directors, three foreign nationals, four Immigration Department officers, two officers from JIM’s Information Technology Division and one police officer.
The suspects, aged between their 30s and 40s, were detained between 2pm and 5pm yesterday at the MACC headquarters and the Penang Immigration Department headquarters.
Preliminary investigations found that the syndicate had exploited unused PLKS quotas from 2011 to issue work passes without paying the required levy.
Investigators believe the group successfully issued 1,306 fraudulent PLKS passes, resulting in an estimated RM2.4 million in losses to the government.
MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Abd Halim Aman said the operation was the culmination of months of intelligence sharing between the commission and the Immigration Department.
“The operation is the result of intelligence sharing between the MACC Intelligence Division and the JIM Intelligence Division, which has been ongoing since May 2026 in the Klang Valley and Penang,” he said in a statement today.
The operation was supported by CyberSecurity Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia and MACC’s Technology Forensics Division.
Authorities also conducted searches at several company premises as well as Immigration Department offices in Penang and Putrajaya as part of the investigation.
The case is being investigated under Sections 17(a) and 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009, which relate to corruption offences involving gratification.
All 12 suspects are expected to be brought before the Putrajaya Magistrates’ Court today for remand proceedings as investigators continue to probe the extent of the syndicate’s activities and whether more individuals were involved. – July 29, 2026