By V.P. SUJATA
PUTRAJAYA: After forging passports, visas and permits to bring in illegal foreign workers, now unscrupulous people have started forging certificates of eligibility.
The certificate, a requirement for those from Vietnam and Myanmar who have to undergo courses on Malaysian lifestyle and local law, is issued by the Human Resource Ministry before a visa can be issued to foreign workers.
The Immigration Department has remanded a man and woman in connection with 19 forged certificates discovered recently.
Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said both were officers in charge of foreign workers in their companies and that 19 fake certificates were from four companies in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Johor Baru and Alor Star.
The four companies and their directors have been blacklisted while their applications for foreign workers have been frozen, he added.
The department is now seeking the help of two people, Khoo Swee Hwee, 24, and 50-year-old Voon Tzu Yack to help in investigations, said Ishak.
"The fake certificates, discovered by the Immigration officers at the foreign workers division, did not have the watermark and the word 'induction' was spelt wrongly in the certificate," he told reporters here on Tuesday.
Ishak said the two detained can be charged under Section 12(1)(c) of the Passports Act 1966 which carries a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or jail not exceeding five years or both for knowingly making a false statement or producing false documents to obtain passports, internal travel documents or visas.
