PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is closely monitoring all airports for potential counter-setting activities involving foreigners entering the country, says its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.
"We constantly monitor all airports, which serve as entry points for foreigners entering the country.
"However, KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) is the main entry point, so we focus our efforts there. KLIA is the central hub for foreigners to enter our country, so that's where we concentrate our efforts."
He said other entry points, like Johor, also have entry counters but he said KLIA remains the priority.
Counter-setting refers to the act of allowing foreigners to enter the country without proper inspection by directing them through designated or predetermined lanes at Immigration entry points.
Azam said this when attending the 2024 State-Level Agency Governance Improvement Appreciation Ceremony at the MACC headquarters.
Yesterday, Azam said MACC is giving the new Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban the opportunity to observe and address counter-setting cases in KLIA Terminal 1 and 2.
His comments followed investigations revealing that officers involved in the counter-setting operations at KLIA and KLIA2 had been receiving information from agents via WhatsApp about the arrival of certain foreign nationals.
The syndicates had reportedly bribed Immigration officers to allow foreigners, particularly from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar to enter the country on tourist visas without following proper protocol.
Following that, 49 immigration officers and police personnel were detained.
Azam had said last month that the mastermind, a senior officer attached to the Immigration Department, would be charged soon.