ILLEGALS GREASING PALMS OF IMMIGRATION OFFICERS TO GAIN ENTRY INTO COUNTRY

Illegals greasing palms of Immigration officers to gain entry into country

KUALA LUMPUR: Bribes given to civil servants, especially law en-forcement personnel, range from RM3 to RM35,000 in one transaction, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said.

Between April and December last year, 414 people 125 of them foreigners had been arrested, the MACC said.

According to the MACC's 2010 Annual Report, corruption and other wrongdoings by enforcement officers, including Immigration officers at entry points, were among the reasons why some foreigners could enter the country illegally.

There were cases of Immigration officers who lived a luxurious life on ill-gotten money, believed to be bribes of about RM2,000 a day for facilitating the entry and exit of illegals, as uncovered at the Pulau Ketam passenger jetty, the report said.

The bribes were meant to clear the way for illegal immigrants to enter the country without valid travel documents.

Based on the Selangor MACC's intelligence work, the report estimated that 1,000 to 1,500 illegals entered the country daily with about 35% of them giving bribes of RM70 to RM100 each to avoid going through proper Immigration procedures.

The annual levy on foreign workers is between RM360 and RM1,800, depending on the job sector, while the processing fee for social visit passes is RM60 to RM110.

Based on these figures, it was estimated that the country could lose RM86.4mil in annual revenue due to corrupt practices.

MACC's operations led to the arrest of 11 Immigration officers with RM231,608.36 in cash or saving accounts.

Assets worth RM117,400 were frozen.

This led to a major revamp of the department including the transfer of 20 officers and staff from the Port Klang Immigration office, to other branches.

The revamp was to sever the link between Immigration officers and the culprits involved in bringing illegal immigrants into the country.

The report also highlighted a diesel subsidy leakage, where a number of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry officers were said to have been offered bribes so as not to take action against misappropriation of the subsidies.

Apparently, fishermen's associations were behind the misappropriation of subsidies amounting to millions as they acted as the go-between for jetty operators, boat owners, owners of illegal fuel storage tanks or fuel depots.

It said the diesel subsidy leakage was detected from government depots which sold the fuel to fishermen's associations, factories, storage tank owners, fishing boat owners, smugglers at the border areas and others.

The report said the Government could have lost RM257mil over a period of five years due to the abuse.

The Government approved the subsidy for 5.1 billion litres of diesel for fishermen between 2006 and 2010. - Bernama