Man held with 99 passports

thestar
IPOH: The Immigration Department arrested a man in Lahat near here for having 99 passports belonging to 89 Myanmar and 10 Bangladeshi immigrants.

National enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said that the 55-year-old man was arrested at the office of his foreign workers outsourcing company at 10.30am yesterday after a tip-off from the public.

Ishak said the man had no right to keep the passports and would face legal action from the department pending investigation.

“Only two parties have the right to keep passports.

Not accepted: Ishak showing one of the Burma Refugees Organisation cards at a press conference in Ipoh on Sunday.

“One is the legitimate owner of the passport and the other is the employer. In this case, he is neither,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

The suspect, said Ishak, had admitted to managing the foreign workers on behalf of five outsourcing companies here, which is an offence.

The man had even issued so-called Burma Refugees Organisation (BRO) cards to the foreign immigrants.

The cards supposedly allow them to work here.

“The BRO cards and any other refugee-related cards are not recognised by the department,” said Ishak.

The operations of the five outsourcing companies have been suspended.

Ishak also said three other Myanmar workers, all in their 20s, were arrested during their operation.

“One of them did not have legal documents and the other two misused their working passes,” he said.

Meanwhile, eight factory workers have been detained for possessing fake MyKads in Kamunting on March 13.

Ishak said four were picked up at a house in Taman Mas here and the others at a nearby factory.