Immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said the two suspects, aged 28 and 33, who worked as the caretaker and Bitcoin machine repairman, were arrested during a raid on a business outlet.

“Both men failed to produce valid travel documents, believed to be kept by an agent,” he said in a statement today.

The immigration officers seized 30 Bitcoin machines, two Bitcoin cooler machines, two computers, a laptop, two units of testing equipment and RM12,600.

The syndicate was said to be operating in a shop offering tinting services as a cover for their Bitcoin mining.

Ruslin said the two men were being detained at the Putrajaya immigration depot for offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

In an unrelated case, a Bangladeshi acting as a middleman for foreign workers was among six foreigners arrested by the department at a premise in Ampang, Selangor, on Jan 17.

Ruslin said 16 individuals were checked during the operation. Six of them – five Bangladeshi men and an Indonesian woman, aged 27 to 56 – were arrested for having expired temporary work permits.

The immigration officers seized 91 foreign worker cards (I-Kads), 561 Construction Industry Development Board cards, 42 foreign passports, 33 company stamps, 27 files containing company information, and RM740,050.

The six were arrested for suspected offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963, and have been placed at the Putrajaya immigration depot for further investigations.