Four Malaysian officers arrested for extortion

IPOH, 10 June 2015 – Four Malaysian immigration officers were arrested and remanded for allegedly demanding and extorting money from refugees detained at detention depots.

Among the victims are Chin refugees, other ethnic nationalities from Burma and detainees from other countries.

All the officers were nabbed after being caught extorting RM12,000 (US$3,200) from a Burmese refugee detained at a depot in Perak.

The Sun, a local daily newspaper, reported that the officers who were stationed at the immigration depot in Langkap, Perak were arrested by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers on Monday.

On Tuesday, a local court granted the remand for another seven days in order to facilitate investigation by the MACC.

It is understood that the detained immigration officers had damaged the UNHCR cards belonging to the refugees, resulting in them being categorised as undocumented immigrants.

A spokesman said that the money transaction was believed to have been handled by a syndicate through middlemen and relatives of the refugees.

It is understood that the payment would be made into the middlemen’s bank accounts before the money is being transferred into the officers’ accounts.

This has been going on since last November and the syndicate has a network linked to several states in Malaysia including Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Pahang. – Thomas Chong