AFTER a month-long surveillance, the National Registration Department (NRD) has crippled a fake ID syndicate after carrying out three raids early this morning.

Thirteen people were picked up in Sandakan and Tawau, including a 52-year-old woman, allegedly the lead agent behind the operation in the East Coast of Sabah.

The suspects had been buying birth certificates of dead young children from poor families in Semporna, Kunak and Lahad Datu in Sabah.  

They charge Indonesian and Filipino nationals between RM300 and RM6,000 for fake identity cards while Pakistanis had to pay between RM30,000 to RM50,000.

NRD director general Mohamad Razin Abdullah said the syndicate members would approach Filipino and Indonesian migrants who arrive in Sabah.

The woman could also be seen sitting inside coffee shops in Sandakan to wait for clients he said.  

“We seized bank savings books, fake birth certificates and marriage certificates among other incriminating documents when we raided the woman’s house at Sedco industrial area in Sandakan,” he said during a press conference in Sandakan today.

“The birth certificates are sold by old people or close relatives of the dead for RM2,000.” 

NRD is trying to determine how long the syndicate has been in operation, but believed the ring was led by two individuals, one in Sandakan and another, in Tawau. 

“No cash were seized from the raids, but several bank account books were confiscated and based on the details, RM30,000 and RM60,000 had passed through the accounts.” – January 31, 2018.