DAP’s Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said the ministry must “grab the bull by its horns” and launch a worldwide probe starting with the Immigration Department.
She said poor Nepalis had been conned of a “stunning amount” through Malaysian companies set up to handle what the Immigration Department should be doing.
According to a Nepali Times report, the money involved came from fees for visas and biometric screening involving Nepali companies affiliated with Malaysia’s Bestinet Sdn Bhd, which developed a foreign worker system for the Immigration Department.
Bestinet has been linked to former home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several Umno politicians, and with Bangladesh middlemen who made huge profits from Bangladeshi migrant workers.
“Tallied together, the Malaysian government and companies backed by powerful politicians have taken more than Rs5 billion (RM185 million) from over 600,000 Nepali workers between September 2013 and April 2018,” the report said.
Kasthuri said in a statement that Bestinet had worked with Syarikat Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd, a “strategic” partner of the Immigration Department, Malaysia Visa Luar Negara (VLN) Nepal, the business partner of Ultra Kirana, and one Aminul Islam Abdul Nor, said to be Zahid’s Bangladeshi brother-in-law.
She said Ultra Kirana, set up in 2011 by the home ministry to process visa documentation for tourists from China, entered Nepal in November 2013 to process visa applications at “exorbitant” fees.
They used Nepal-based associate VLN Nepal to increase the rates by 550%, she claimed.
“To date, there is no company website for Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd,” she added.
Kasthuri said the Barisan Nasional government used Bestinet for mandatory biometric health screenings in Nepal, partnering the Nepal Health Professional Federation (NHPF) at only 39 medical centres.
They charged the Nepalis an additional RM165 (Rs4,500) and collected a “whopping RM37 million” (Rs1 billion) for the biometric health screenings which the Nepalis could have done for less at 200 health outfits approved by the government.
“Perhaps this mafia sort of business arrangement led to the Nepali government disallowing their workers to be employed in Malaysia,” she added.
Earlier this year, the Nepal government stopped the migration of Nepali workers to Malaysia and closed many agencies believed to have illegally demanded additional money for providing visa-processing services.
The government also took punitive action against employment agencies and individual agents this year, local news reports said.