MACC arrests two Home Ministry officials, civilian over alleged corruption in fast-tracking citizenship

Malay Mail

08-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday arrested two Home Ministry officials and a member of the public in relation to an investigation on alleged corruption to expedite citizenship-related processes.
In a brief statement today, the MACC said the trio were arrested in an operation between 1pm and 5pm yesterday in Putrajaya to aid in investigations.
The MACC added that the arrests were made following information received regarding a corruption case related to the speeding up of applications to confirm citizenship status.
In Malaysia, what is sometimes referred to as citizenship applications are actually applications made by individuals to confirm that their citizenship status should be Malaysian under the Federal Constitution, which will then pave the way for them to be recognised as citizens.
'This operation follows the Ops Outlander recently carried out by the MACC. The Home Ministry gave full cooperation to MACC in the investigation of this case,' the MACC said.
MACC said the trio's statements are currently being recorded at the MACC's Putrajaya headquarters.
In March, the MACC arrested 16 individuals under two operations known as Ops Outlander and Ops Birth, including a medical practitioner with the title 'Datuk Seri', a civil servant, a legal practitioner, agents, and those who applied for birth registrations.
Those arrested in the two MACC operations were suspected of having committed offences involving the offering and accepting of bribes, as well as preparing and submitting false birth certificate documents.
As of mid-March, MACC had reportedly frozen 11 bank accounts containing RM100,000 and seized 30 documents for the investigation.
Last month, the MACC arrested and remanded two individuals for investigations on the alleged submission of falsified birth registration forms.
Separately, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on March 13 revealed that a joint operation between his ministry's National Registration Department and the NRD — known as Ops Tumpang — had uncovered a birth document forgery syndicate, with at least 80 birth certificates obtained using the false health records.