Syndicate Preying On Elderly With Fake Marriage Documents To Foreigners Busted

PUTRAJAYA, July 5 (Bernama) – The Immigration Department (JIM) has arrested five local men suspected of involvement in a syndicate forging immigration and National Registration Department (JPN) documents targeting elderly citizens seeking to marry foreigners, during a special operation around here last Thursday.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the group, believed to have operated for about a year, targeted elderly locals in the Klang Valley seeking to marry foreigners, charging fees ranging from RM50 to RM500 per application.

The syndicate’s modus operandi involved offering immigration services for ‘applications to register as wives of local citizens’ and JPN services for ‘marriage registration between local citizens and foreigners’.

The raid, conducted by officers from the Putrajaya Intelligence and Special Operations Division, followed two weeks of public tips and intelligence gathering.

The operation began at 9.19 am and resulted in the arrest of four men believed to be the syndicate’s masterminds and one intermediary. All detainees are between 30 and 66 years old.

“They are being investigated under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966 and have been taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Office for further action,” he said in a statement today.

Zakaria added that authorities seized seven Bangladeshi passports, six Chinese passports, three Indonesian passports, two Vietnamese passports, one Myanmar passport and one Macau passport during the raid.

Also confiscated were 26 files containing JIM and JPN documents, two backpacks, a printer, a laptop and RM3,070 in cash believed to be proceeds from the syndicate’s activities.

Two vehicles, a Perodua Bezza and a Honda CRV, allegedly used by the syndicate were also impounded.

-- BERNAMA