Selangor: A woman is behind the running of an immigration stamp forgery syndicate targeting overstaying foreigners who are desperate to obtain fake stamps on their passports for entry and exit or to renew their visit pass.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar revealed that the syndicate has been operating since the beginning of this year. It uses a legitimate shopfront in Shah Alam as a cover to attract foreigners, charging RM500 for each fake stamp.

He further explained that the premises belong to a local woman, who is reportedly the mother-in-law of a footballer. This woman is suspected of assisting her husband, a foreigner, in the illegal operation. Both were previously arrested in connection with the syndicate's activities.

Currently, all suspects, including four foreign men and a local woman aged between 39 and 47, remain in remand custody to aid ongoing investigations. The police have forwarded the seized documents and fake stamps to the Malaysian Immigration Department for further verification and are probing potential involvement of other parties within the immigration system.

The uncovering of the syndicate's activities resulted from intelligence gathered by the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Gombak district police headquarters (IPD). They discovered that the fake stamps were being used to evade legal actions for overstaying the legal period in the country.

The case is under investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which pertains to cheating. On October 5, law enforcement conducted two raids in Gombak and Shah Alam, arresting five individuals and seizing several documents and equipment linked to the forgery operation.