PUTRAJAYA, April 21 — The arrest of two Malaysian Immigration Department officers serving as attaches in Bangladesh by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last Monday was the result of strategic information sharing between the two agencies.
Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the department began investigating claims that Immigration attaches based in Dhaka, Bangladesh had been allegedly receiving bribes involving the issuance of foreign visas to Bangladeshi citizens to enter Malaysia.
“The Immigration Department then ordered the two of them to return to Malaysia to assist with the investigation. Information was channelled to the MACC for action and the investigation led to the arrest of the two officers,” he said in a statement today.
He said investigations were fully handed over to the MACC and the department would provide full cooperation in a transparent and fair manner.
Ruslin said the Immigration Department will not compromise when it comes to any of its officers committing offences that tarnish its image and threaten the country’s security and sovereignty, adding that strict action awaits them.
He said the strategic cooperation with the MACC will also continue to ensure that the department is always transparent in dealing with elements of corruption and practices that lacked integrity.
The media reported yesterday that two enforcement agency officers serving in Bangladesh were arrested on April 17 after turning up at the MACC Putrajaya Headquarters to give their statements, and were remanded for three days beginning April 18.
According to the source, the two were arrested after MACC detected a number of suspicious money transactions in their bank accounts, and they were ordered to return to Malaysia to assist in investigations.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki when contacted confirmed the arrests and did not rule out the possibility that there would be several other arrests made after this.
