Phantom land, false signature: How agents allegedly duped migrant worker quota system

In a small office near Jalan Makbar Darat, Kuantan, Nazlan Mokhtar, 57, sits in his chair as usual.

The secretary of Koperasi Kijang Mas Negeri Pahang Berhad has spent years managing the affairs of the cooperative’s thousands of members. However, for the past few months, that chair has felt much heavier to sit in.

This is no ordinary tale of a village cooperative. This is the story of how a quota of 1,125 migrant workers, allegedly worth millions of ringgit on the black market of labour trading, was approved under the name of an Orang Asli cooperative - without the full knowledge of those who were supposed to sign off on it, through questionable methods, and with the possibility that the quota was misused.

A Malaysiakini investigation revealed application documents built upon non-existent land acreage, agreements with an unlicensed company, the cooperative chairperson's signature allegedly being forged, and conflicting marriage records for a company director between two government agencies.

Meanwhile, the approved quota never brought a single worker to the cooperative’s land.

"I’m stressed out," Nazlan said, half-joking, half-serious, during an interview with Malaysiakini.

Mr G, Ms K

This story begins not with success, but with failure.

The roots of Koperasi Kijang Mas can be traced back to the late 1980s, when it was known as Korporasi Orang Asli Maju Rompin.

It was subsequently administered under the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA) and later the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa).

According to Nazlan (above), in 2023, the cooperative applied for a migrant worker quota on its own through its committee member, but the application failed.

For a cooperative already struggling with financial difficulties while its membership continued to shrink, any opportunity for an injection of manpower and new income looked like a way out.

It was during that critical situation, according to Nazlan, that two individuals emerged in the cooperative's affairs.

They were an Indian national man and a Malaysian woman.

In the interview, Nazlan referred to the man as “Mr G” as the main agent, and the woman as "Ms K", stressing that these were not their real names.

According to Nazlan, after the two came into the picture, the quota matters slipped out of the cooperative’s full control.

"First, we applied for a migrant worker quota but were rejected. Then, they came in as agents to assist us. They handled everything, including preparing the application documents until more than 1,100 quotas were approved," he said.

According to Nazlan, Mr G handled the second application entirely.

As a result, a quota of 1,125 migrant workers was approved under the name of Koperasi Kijang Mas.

Suspicious agreement

However, there were several suspicious matters in the process.

A document Malaysiakini sighted showed that an "Agreement Deed" was signed on Aug 1, 2024, between the cooperative and Agensi Pekerjaan Uni Jobs Sdn Bhd - a company with an address at Plaza Prima, Jalan Klang Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

In the document, Uni Jobs was named the "contractor" while the cooperative was named the "landowner".

The agreement appeared to give Uni Jobs the right to bring in migrant workers, manage them, and fulfil all rules, requirements, and welfare of the migrant workers, including all government regulations and wages.

In return, the contractor was required to harvest rubber from the cooperative’s land.

However, a check with the Human Resources Ministry revealed that Uni Jobs did not possess a valid Private Employment Agency (APS) Licence.

This licence is a mandatory requirement under the law for any entity wishing to operate as an employment agency.

Meanwhile, Nazlan claimed that the signature appearing above the cooperative chairperson’s name on the document was not his.

In a police report lodged by Nazlan on behalf of the cooperative, he accused Mr G and Ms K, among other things, of forging the signature.

Malaysiakini could not independently verify the signature forgery allegations.

Additionally, Nazlan said the cooperative chairperson had never attended any interview session with the authorities for the migrant worker quota application.

"He was unwell at the time," he said.

Land size anomaly

Another anomaly in the agreement document was the land size claimed to be owned by the cooperative.

The document stated that the cooperative owned 4,500ha of land. The same figure is believed to have been used in the application handled by Uni Jobs to obtain the quota.

However, that land size does not exist. Instead, Nazlan said, the actual size of the land cultivated by the cooperative for vegetable crops was only around 300 to 400 acres (121.4 to 161.9ha) - as seen by Malaysiakini when visiting the area.

Besides the migrant worker quota issue, there were other anomalies surrounding the case.

A search with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) found that Uni Jobs has two directors, both Malaysian citizens.

Based on official documents from the Immigration Department, one of them is Mr G’s wife.

However, a check by Malaysiakini with the National Registration Department (NRD) showed that the Malaysian woman was also married to a man of another nationality, and that marriage remained valid as they were not divorced.

Malaysiakini has submitted official queries to the Home Ministry to clarify this discrepancy in records.

Malaysiakini had also contacted Mr G, Ms K, both directors of Uni Jobs (including the woman alleged to be Mr G’s wife), and her lawful husband on Sept 1, 2026, to seek comments regarding the allegations against them, but has yet to receive a response.

Home Ministry comes knocking

According to Nazlan, the real trouble began after the cooperative received approval for the quota.

The cooperative waited for the workforce to arrive to develop their land, but days passed without certainty.

When the cooperative tried to get the latest status on the workers, Ms K allegedly offered various excuses, including claiming that there were issues on the immigration side.

As time went on without a single worker setting foot on the cooperative’s land, suspicions grew stronger.

The cooperative eventually suspected that the two agents had illegally sold the quota to third parties and abused the cooperative’s name and status without any authorisation or legal power.

"The quota of 1,125 migrant workers that was supposed to be used to develop the cooperative's land was issued and sold to third parties as a standalone commodity.

"While the cooperative was merely a name on paper to validate the approval of the quota," he said.

The real shock came when the Home Ministry itself contacted the cooperative.

According to Nazlan, Home Ministry officers, together with Immigration Department officers, first came to Kuantan, and later requested cooperative representatives to attend a detailed interrogation session in Putrajaya.

"When Home Ministry came to the office, they asked me, 'Do you know that these migrant workers have already entered the country?'" Nazlan asked, recalling the moment that changed everything.

"I said I didn't know."

In Putrajaya, officers showed documents and interrogated the cooperative representatives.

After determining that the cooperative had likely been duped, Home Ministry officers advised the cooperative to lodge a police report as a step to protect its own standing.

On Jan 19, Nazlan lodged a report at the Travers police station in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

In the report, he denied the cooperative’s link to any involvement in the fraudulent activities, while also reporting the misuse and forgery of the cooperative's documents.

He emphasised that the cooperative was not involved, did not sign any agreement, and received no payment or profit from the management or sale of the quota linked to the cooperative's name.

Nazlan also requested the police to conduct a thorough investigation into Mr G, Ms K, and any other parties involved, as well as take legal action for offences of cheating, document forgery, breach of trust, and abetment.

According to him, the actions caused reputational damage and legal risks to the cooperative.

Action underway

In response to Malaysiakini’s queries on the matter, the Home Ministry, together with the Peninsula Labour Department and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, are taking action against the parties involved, particularly regarding document forgery offences, immigration offences, and alleged elements of human trafficking linked to the case.

"The ministry has also conducted oversight inspections and further investigations, and found that there were parties involved in document forgery as well as elements of human trafficking.

"This case also serves as another proof of how important it is for the Home Ministry to conduct transparent and comprehensive oversight inspection processes to ensure any misuse of migrant worker quotas can be detected and contained at an early stage," they added.

At the end of the interview, when asked what his actual demands to the government were, Nazlan did not ask for compensation or drastic action. His request was much simpler.

"I ask the government to pay attention to the relevant departments, whether regarding migrant labour or other matters, and take good care of them.

"The Orang Asli, if no one guides them, they don't know about these things," he said.

"We didn't even know we were walking into a trap and getting scammed.

"We hope Home Ministry returns our quota so that we can bring in migrant workers to cultivate our land," Nazlan added.

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