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KUCHING, July 5: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is in the midst of tracking down the “agent”, believed to be foreginer, suspected to have solicited a fee to resolve the case involving a female Chinese national who was allegedly barred from entering Malaysia.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, during a press conference in Putrajaya today, said that the agent’s probable foreign identity was deduced from their use of a foreign language and the messaging application WeChat.
While the specific foreign language was not disclosed, Azam stated that the agent was linked to a company based in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), which had been given a contract by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to manage travellers who had been issued with “Not to Land” (NTL) notices since 2017.
“MAHB will also face questioning on its regulation of such companies as the company in question was appointed by MAHB.
“MACC will soon record a statement from the company. We have to conduct thoroughly investigation whether the contract given to this company is something that is allowed by the government,” he said, according to news reports from Malay Mail and Free Malaysia Today.
On the day of the incident, Azam further disclosed that a total of 41 NTL notices was issued by the Immigration Department.
“Enforcement, of course, is under Immigration. But it’s not just immigration there, Customs is there too,” he added.
Yesterday, Free Malaysia Today reported that the MACC has identified an individual suspected of being an “agent” involved in “resolving” the matter by allegedly soliciting bribes amounting to RM18,000.
These events came to light after Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing got involved in a commotion with immigration officers at KLIA when he attempted to intervene in the case where a female Chinese National was allegedly denied entry into Malaysia.
Tiong’s claimed that his visit to the airport had exposed a “culture of corruption by several officials and rampant abuse of power” at the country’s main gateway, which later triggered widespread investigation.
He claimed that immigration officers demanded RM3,000 to release detained travellers, with an additional RM3,000 required for immediate return to their home country and RM12,000 for visa processing. — DayakDaily
