Kuala lumpur: Two Immigration officers stationed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) were arrested for allegedly receiving bribes amounting to about RM400,000 to facilitate the entry of foreigners without going through checks at the country’s entry points.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the two male suspects, aged in their 40s and holding KP1 and KP2 grades, were arrested in simultaneous operations in Nilai and Johor Bahru on Monday. The arrests followed earlier operations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to clamp down on a ‘counter setting’ syndicate at KLIA 1 and 2, which is believed to have collected hundreds of thousands of ringgit in bribes to allow foreigners to enter the country without going through proper checks from 2022 to 2024.

Following the arrests, MACC also seized a sum of cash and froze several bank accounts belonging to the suspects. Both suspects, who were serving at KLIA1 and KLIA2 respectively, have been remanded for seven days until Aug 26 after MACC’s application at the Magistrate’s Court here today.

Meanwhile, Pahang MACC director Mohd Shukor Mahmud confirmed the arrests when contacted, saying they are being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009. He added that further investigations are ongoing to identify the involvement of other individuals in the syndicate.