Immigration department director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the syndicate targeted elderly Malaysians residing in the Klang Valley who were seeking to marry foreign spouses.

“Fees charged ranged from RM50 to RM500 per application to register a marriage,” he said. “The syndicate is believed to have been operating for about a year.”

Five Malaysian men aged between 30 and 66 years old, were nabbed in the raid on July 3, following a tip-off. Four of them are believed to be the masterminds, and the fifth is believed to be a middleman.

Zakaria said all five detainees are being investigated for wrongful possession of passports.

He said 63 passports were seized, comprising six from Malaysia, 22 from China, seven Bangladeshi passports, three Indonesian passports, two Vietnamese passports, one Myanmar passport and one Macau passport.

The officers also seized 26 folders containing documents of the immigration and national registration departments, two cars, a backpack and a laptop.