SEPANG, Feb 19 – Several individuals from two employment agencies in the country believed to be involved in recruiting Malaysians to work abroad have been arrested for their involvement in a job scam.
Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hassan said the arrests were made last month and they are now being investigated by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM).
“These companies have licences to bring in foreign workers to work in Malaysia as domestic workers, construction labourers and farm workers.
“However, they were found to have exploited their licence and exported Malaysians to work abroad such as Thailand and Myanmar until they were stranded there,” he said.
He told reporters in a press conference following the return of five Malaysians who were victims of a job scam syndicate in Thailand, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here today.
“Police will work with the Labour and Immigration Departments to find the masterminds of the syndicate. I believe these masterminds are in both countries (Malaysia and Thailand) and they are working together,” he said.
Meanwhile, he reminded non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the next of kin of the victims to channel information to the Royal Malaysia Police (RMN) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that the information from Malaysia to the Thai authorities is only through one official channel.
“The issue of overlapping information is the biggest obstacle facing the Thai authorities. When we channel information to them, they are unsure whether they want to receive information from NGOs or RMN. The thing (information) is not synchronised.
“So, we have decided that from now on only information channelled by the embassy or police-to-police will be accepted,” he said.
He also reminded local folks to think hard before accepting a job offer abroad with a decent salary.
“This should be a question mark when an outside company can offer them up to US$2,000 (about RM8,800) when they have no qualifications or any work experience. Please think twice even if it is offered from a legitimate employment agency,” he said.
He said with the return of the five victims, RMN and the Royal Thai Police have managed to rescue 12 victims and are currently tracking the remaining 14 victims who are still stranded there.
