Passport snooze scandal: DG says probe ongoing, vows zero tolerance

Summary

• Immigration Department director-general Zakaria Shaaban says an integrity probe is underway and an officer has been transferred after he was caught sleeping on the job with a dozen passports in his pants.

• DG vows zero tolerance for integrity violations, saying errant officers will face action.

The Immigration Department has launched an integrity investigation after one of its officers was caught with 12 foreign passports concealed in his waistband, said its director-general Zakaria Shaaban.

Confirming a Malaysiakini report published yesterday, Zakaria stated that the discovery was made at the Terminal 2 operations office of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Jan 1.

A police report was subsequently filed on Jan 7, and the case has been classified as a departmental matter.

"An integrity investigation file has been opened, and KLIA Immigration has taken preliminary action by reassigning the officer to the KLIA Immigration Depot while the probe is ongoing.

“However, the officer has yet to report to the new duty station. The integrity investigation process is still ongoing,” he said in a statement.

Zakaria emphasised that the department maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward integrity violations.

He added that any officer found guilty of misconduct will face appropriate disciplinary action, including dismissal, in accordance with the laws.

Sleeping on the job

Malaysiakini reported that a colleague spotted the officer sleeping in the meeting room of the Terminal 2 operations office.

“Since it was not break time and was close to the shift change at 7.30am, I decided to wake the officer. Upon arriving at the meeting room, I found the officer lying on a chair in full immigration uniform,” read the police report.

“Since the uniform was not worn properly, I noticed a book resembling a passport tucked into the waistband of the officer’s pants. I immediately woke the officer and conducted an initial inspection. As a result, I found 12 passports from various countries hidden in the waistband,” it stated.

However, immigration sources told Malaysiakini the officer was still involved in “fly” activities.

“Fly” refers to a syndicate operation that manipulates entry and exit records to “clean” overstayers’ statuses or removes blacklist records for foreign nationals through fraudulent passport stamps.

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