11 Bangladeshis among 20 detained in Malaysia over worker quota fraud

Malaysian authorities have detained 20 people, including 11 Bangladeshis, over suspected involvement in a syndicate abusing foreign worker quotas for profit.

The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) detained the suspects, aged between 23 and 47, during a special operation in Taman Datuk Ahmad Razali on Thursday (8 October), reports New Straits Times.

Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation began at 7:30am and was conducted by the department’s Intelligence and Special Operations Division at its headquarters in Putrajaya, in collaboration with the Strategic Compliance Branch and the Intelligence and Profiling Department of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

The operation followed public information and intelligence gathered by the department, he said in a statement today (9 October).

Those detained included two Bangladeshi men suspected of being the business owner and manager, six Malaysian female employees, and 12 foreign customers comprising nine Bangladeshi men and three Indonesian women.

The authorities seized 265 Bangladeshi passports, 63 Indonesian passports, 12 Pakistani passports and one Indian passport, along with RM6,700 in cash believed to have been collected from customers, Zakaria said.

Preliminary investigations found that the syndicate allegedly used an “A-to-B” employer arrangement. Under this arrangement, a company, known as Employer A, obtained approval for foreign worker quotas and brought workers into Malaysia under Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS), but subsequently supplied them to another company, Employer B, for profit instead of employing them itself.

The syndicate was also suspected of submitting company information that did not reflect the businesses’ actual profiles to secure foreign worker quota approvals.

Further checks found that the workers did not work for the companies that had applied for the quotas but instead worked independently for other companies.

The operation uncovered a scheme believed to generate profits of RM3,800 to RM5,000 per worker, Zakaria said.

He added that the companies involved allegedly understated their profits and failed to report personal income for the 2020–2023 assessment years to evade taxes.

The business owner, manager and one Malaysian employee were detained on suspicion of offences under Section 56(1)(l) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966.

The 12 foreign customers were also detained over suspected violations of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963, he said.

The business owner is additionally being investigated by the IRB over alleged failure to report income and submission of inaccurate income reports under Sections 112(3) and 113(2) of the Income Tax Act 1967.