Fake approvals, RM1.3m trail: How agents allegedly resold hijacked migrant worker quotas

Police have frozen 13 bank accounts after a contractor complained that he paid RM1.3 million to an agent to get migrant workers, but received just a fraction.

The agent in question is the same one that Malaysiakini previously reported had allegedly secured a quota of 1,125 migrant workers using an Orang Asli cooperative’s name and fake details about how much land the cooperative owned.

The contractor, identified here as Shah (not his real name), alleges that the agent, known as Mr G, gave him fake approval documents, delivered only a third of the promised workers, and left most of those who arrived unable to work legally after the quota was blacklisted.

The falsification of documents to secure quotas, which are then traded for cash in this case, shows how the migrant worker quota system is susceptible to abuse, and how intermediaries make money at the expense of others.

Born in Pakistan and now a Malaysian citizen, Shah runs a company with a G7 contractor licence and holds a valid Private Employment Agency (APS) licence under the Human Resources Ministry.

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

At the end of 2023, he said, his company had projects worth about RM10 million and needed a large foreign workforce, mostly in construction. That was when he met Mr G, who promised to secure quota approvals for the plantation and construction sectors at RM1,800 per worker.

Shah said he knew the lawful processing cost was about RM1,500 per worker, but accepted the higher price because an earlier application of his had been rejected.

He paid an advance of RM780,000 in more than 10 transactions, some in cash.

“In this business, advances and cash payments are very normal,” he said.

Curiously, however, Shah said none of these or future payments went to accounts in Mr G’s name.

Malaysiakini has reviewed bank statements, receipts and messages between the two men that support his account of the payments.

Workers never arrived

Mr G then told him that 300 quotas had been approved, 200 for construction and 100 for plantations. Shah asked for copies of the approval documents and checked them with the Home Ministry.

“After checking with the Home Ministry, I found that the approval documents supplied by Mr G were fake,” he said.

Malaysiakini has confirmed with both the Home and Human Resources ministries that the documents were fake.

When Shah demanded his money back, he claimed Mr G came back with a different offer: a quota under the name of the Orang Asli’s Koperasi Kijang Mas Negeri Pahang Berhad.

Because Shah held a valid APS licence, he was asked to manage 500 workers from Pakistan who would be sent to work the cooperative’s land.

To offset his advance, Shah agreed to bear every other cost, from approvals and levies to medical examinations and Socso, under the “zero cost” concept for workers.

By his count, the total he paid through the 13 accounts reached RM1.3 million, and Mr G promised his profit would come once the land was cultivated.

Shah said he went with Mr G’s associate, Ms K, to the Pakistan Embassy, where a binding agreement was signed. He shared the document with Malaysiakini for verification.

The workers, however, never arrived in the numbers promised. Only 169 of the 500 reached Malaysia. Shah claimed he proposed sending 100 of them to the cooperative first, since the quota was meant for its land, but Mr G refused.

Then the quota collapsed.

Under investigation

The Home Ministry blacklisted the cooperative for using fake documents to obtain the approval, and when the first work permit renewals fell due, the remaining workers could not be renewed.

“They could not work legally. I had to use my own money to send them home,” Shah said.

His requests for a refund were met with one excuse after another, and in January 2026 he lodged a police report at the Sentul district police headquarters.

Shah’s lawyer, Azlan Shah, said the Commercial Crime Investigation Department at Bukit Aman later wrote to them in a letter dated Oct 1, 2026, confirming that an investigation paper had been opened under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

“The police investigation is still ongoing,” he said.

“We have advised our client to take civil action to recover the money, and a letter of demand has been issued.”

A Home Ministry spokesperson confirmed that the case is under investigation and that all 13 accounts have been frozen as part of the probe. Shah describes himself as one of the parties cheated in the affair.

The cooperative’s own complaint is being handled in parallel. Its secretary Nazlan Mokhtar lodged a police report at the Travers police station in Brickfields on Jan 19, alleging that the chairperson’s signature on an agreement with Agensi Pekerjaan Uni Jobs Sdn Bhd - a company linked to Mr G - had been forged.

Malaysiakini could not independently verify that allegation.

Malaysiakini has contacted Mr G and Ms K for comment.

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