KUALA LUMPUR: Immigration Department personnel here have arrested two Bangladeshi men for allegedly being the masterminds behind a document forgery syndicate.

       Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said a raid was conducted on a Wangsa Maju apartment at 11am on Dec 6, adding that it came after a Myanmar man was arrested on Nov 25 for allegedly being a middleman for the syndicate.

       "The two men are aged 34 and 37 and were busy preparing forged work permits for foreign workers and passports when Immigration personnel raided the apartment," he said in a statement on Monday (Dec 13).

       He added that both suspects attempted to flee but Immigration personnel managed to nab them after cordoning off the area.

       "We discovered that a room of the apartment was used to produce various types of forged documents. Among the items seized were computers, printers, card printing machines and other equipment used to produce forged documents," said Khairul.

       He added that Immigration security stickers, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) cards and passports from various countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar were found at the scene.

       Khairul added that the passports found at the scene were to be handed over to the syndicate's clients.

       "The syndicate would use middlemen to find customers. Their targeted customers are those from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and India," he said.

       Khairul added that the syndicate has been operating for about a year and charged between RM300 and RM500 for forged Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) stickers, while the rate for forged CIDB cards and passports was between RM100 and RM300.

       "Both suspects are being held at the Immigration Depot in Semenyih," he said.