Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali – Bernama file Photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the immigration department has had talks with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to review and bring about continuous improvements to the systems and procedures in the department.
This was after the MACC’s arrest of six immigration officers who were suspected of being involved in corruption and abuse of power. The officers were arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday.
“Efforts towards improvements are being taken to close the space and opportunity for acts of corruption, malpractices or abuse of power,” he told Bernama yesterday.
The immigration officers, aged between 27 and 50 years, were arrested following investigations linked to syndicates where they allegedly facilitated blacklisted locals and foreigners into entering and leaving the country.
Also arrested was a businessman suspected of being a proxy to the syndicate, and a blacklisted Vietnamese woman.
They have all been remanded for four days.
Meanwhile, MACC Intelligence director Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahya admitted that there were foreigners who had been arrested in Malaysia for criminal offences but were found to be able to enter and leave the country easily through the help of the syndicates and their agents.
These developments were “worrying” and efforts were being made to detect the agents of the syndicates, he said.
Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye stressed the need for agencies and government departments to review the monitoring system to curb corruption.
He said the immigration department should adopt high integrity values among its employees to combat abuse of power and corruption. – Bernama