PUTRAJAYA: Immigration officers manning counters at the country's entry points should not have access to their mobile phones, says the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said this after investigations found that Immigration officers, who were caught for "counter setting" at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Terminal 1) and klia2 (Terminal 2) recently, had received information from agents on the arrival of certain foreign nationals via WhatsApp.
"Counter setting" refers to the act of allowing foreigners to enter the country without proper inspection by going through designated or predetermined lanes at Immigration entry points.
Azam was also recently quoted as saying that syndicate agents had advertised entry packages to Malaysia on Facebook and Telegram.
He said the officers were allegedly bribed between RM200 and RM2,500 for each foreigner who passed through the special counter. (https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/09/1107170/counter-setting-syndi...)
"We suggest that these officers on duty at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, including their supervisors, should not be allowed to carry their mobile phones while on duty.
"This is to prevent other parties from contacting them easily," he told reporters today.
He said it was necessary to create a separate network of communication while they were on duty. The decision to place officers at entry-point counters should also be made by other parties.
"Based on our investigations, we found several issues which led to the occurrence of 'counter setting', including the relaxation of internal controls that made it easier for officers to be approached by agents or syndicates while on duty.
"Duty rotations for officers at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 were also not done systematically.
"There was also a lack of monitoring and supervision, as well as loopholes in standard operating procedures," he said, adding that procedures were easily manipulated and difficult to revise.
Some officers, he said, were also overly comfortable after being assigned in one place for a long time.
"Our investigations revealed that officers at both terminals were paying and receiving bribes among themselves.
"Investigations also found that there was a practice among Immigration officers who received bribes to release foreigners who did not meet entry requirements," he said, adding that there was no third party to monitor or screen the return tickets and accommodation of foreigners who entered the country.