11 Bangladeshis among 20 detained in Malaysia over foreign worker quota fraud

Malaysia’s Immigration Department (JIM) has detained 20 people, including 11 Bangladeshis, on suspicion of involvement in fraud involving quotas for foreign workers, reports Malaymail, an online news portal of the country.

According to the Malaymail report, they were arrested during a raid in the Taman Datuk Ahmad Razali area on Thursday. The detainees are aged between 23 and 47.

Datuk Zakaria Shaaban, director-general of Malaysia’s Immigration Department, said the operation began at 7.30 am. It was jointly conducted by the Intelligence and Special Operations Division at the department’s headquarters in Putrajaya and two divisions of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

He said the raid was carried out based on information provided by members of the public and intelligence gathered by the Immigration Department.

“Those detained comprised two Bangladeshi men believed to be the business owner and manager, six local female employees, and 12 foreign customers—nine Bangladeshi men and three Indonesian women,” Malaymail quoted Zakaria as saying.

In a statement issued today, Friday, Zakaria said the team seized 265 Bangladeshi passports, 63 Indonesian passports, 12 Pakistani passports and one Indian passport. It also seized RM6,700, believed to be money paid by customers.

According to Zakaria, preliminary investigations indicated that the syndicate used a method known as ‘A-to-B’. Under this arrangement, one company, referred to as Employer A, obtained approval to recruit foreign workers and brought them into Malaysia under the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS).

However, instead of working for their original employer, the workers were supplied to other companies, referred to as Employer B, in exchange for profit.

Zakaria further said that the syndicate was also suspected of submitting false company information to secure foreign worker quota approvals.

Further investigations found that the foreign workers brought into the country did not work for the companies that had applied for the quotas. Instead, they worked independently for other companies.

The Immigration Department director-general said the scheme was believed to generate profits of between RM3,800 and RM5,000 for each worker brought into Malaysia.

To evade taxes, the companies involved allegedly declared profits far below their actual earnings. They also failed to submit records of their personal income for the period from 2020 to 2023.

Zakaria said the Immigration Department would continue to take firm action against all forms of illegal activity, including those who devise, operate and profit from schemes that abuse foreign worker quotas.