NO one joins the civil service to be a millionaire. Even at retirement age, very few have a million in the bank solely earned from their pay packet.
But some rogue immigration officers have found a way to have that much, and more, before retirement age: by joining a counter-setting syndicate.
All the rogue officers have to do is allow foreigners without documents to slip through airport checks in exchange for bribes. And the wages of sin? A cache of cash, jewellery, gold, branded handbags and luxury cars.
In raids by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) between Sept 9 and 11, the agency arrested five immigration officers alleged to be involved in the counter-setting syndicate.
About RM2 million worth of jewellery and gold was recovered. MACC also froze 70 bank accounts worth RM3.3 million. Also confiscated were a plot of land, a house, luxury vehicles, branded handbags and luxury watches.
Not surprising given the inducement ranges from RM1,800 to RM2,500 per foreigner let through illegally, to quote MACC.
Depressingly, we have heard this before. Like the husband-and-wife team of immigration officers who allegedly facilitated the illegal entry of foreigners for four years in return for bribes, big enough to open a jewellery shop.
Even more depressingly, the recurrence of such troubling episodes suggests that this won’t be the last.
The Immigration Department has pledged to root out rogue officers. While this boosts the confidence of the people in the department, a question needs asking: Why didn’t the supervisors of the five immigration officers or the rogue husband-and-wife team detect the fraudulent activities of their underlings before MACC did? How the rogue couple got away with it for four years needs explaining.
Judging from the value of the assets recovered from the five officers by the MACC, they must have been going rogue for a while.
Failing to notice such blatant corrupt practices says something about the system of oversight in the department.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shabaan told this newspaper on Thursday that between 2024 and now, 453 cases were resolved, following which 60 officers were dismissed.
He also spoke of 301 cases under investigation, 227 of which are tied to activities at airports, land borders and seaports.
Certainly, applause is due to the department for efforts to rid it of rogue officers. But what is troubling is the scale of the figures, which point to the large number of bad apples in the department.
Sure, the rogue officers must be held accountable, but let’s not forget to hold accountable the officers who are supposed to supervise them.
This has been a malaise, not just in the Immigration Department, but throughout the public service.
While Putrajaya is busy heading north with its anti-corruption ambition, rogue officers in enforcement agencies are pushing it south.
But let’s stick with the Immigration Department. The number of cases disclosed by Zakaria suggests there are far too many cases of roguery. He and his team of leaders mustn’t just stop at rooting out rogues and plugging loopholes. They need to reengineer the entire department, with a focus on staff and systems..
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