Malaysian immigration arrests three Chinese nationals for using fake social visit passes in US visa applications, part of a wider crackdown on document fraud.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department has detained three Chinese nationals for allegedly using counterfeit social visit passes as supporting documents for United States visa applications.
Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the suspects, a man and two women aged 25 to 54, were arrested in the federal capital.
The department also seized three passports bearing fake Social Visit Pass stickers from the Malaysia My Second Home programme.
“These long-term passes are suspected of being used to mislead the embassy and facilitate the processing of visa applications,” Zakaria said in a statement.
The arrests are a follow-up action after the department uncovered a syndicate in October last year selling fake long-term passes for up to RM10,000 each.
The syndicate’s documents were intended for use in US visa applications.
The three suspects are now being held at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot.
Their case is being investigated under the Immigration Act, the Passport Act, and the Immigration Regulations.
In a separate operation, 11 more Chinese nationals were arrested last Tuesday in the Klang Valley for allegedly misusing their social visit and employment passes.
Five were arrested at four retail and restaurant premises in Dengkil, Selangor.
Six women working as masseuses were arrested around Kepong.
“All these women are suspected of engaging in immoral activities, offering services for RM100 to RM300 per session,” Zakaria said.
A local man, believed to be the employer and caretaker of the premises, was also arrested during that raid.