The police’s Special Branch today said there could be subversive elements among the foreigners who received blue identity card illegally and therefore Project IC was a threat to national security.

“We do not know where these people came from and their background. They could be criminals or subversive in nature or similar things.

“This becomes a threat not only to security, but also political, economic and social stability,” assessment officer Ahmad Fauzan Mohd told the royal commission of inquiry on immigrants in Sabah today.

Ahmad, who is based in the security and human trafficking syndicate division in the KL Special Branch, said he was tasked with assessing the intelligence during the crackdown on Project IC.
Having led  the intelligence component of the six-year investigation beginning in 1995, Ahmad said the syndicate had also encouraged human trafficking.

As a result, he said 94 people who were involved in the syndicate  were arrested under the Internal Security Act between 1995 to 2001.

Of this, 80 were given a two-year detention under the act, six was placed under restricted residence and eight more were freed unconditionally.

NONEAhmad added that the detention order was signed by then-deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub (right).

When queried why none of these individuals were charged after being released from ISA, Ahmad explained this was the norm for all cases.

However, he said 3,035 people who were beneficiaries of fraudulent identity cards had been charged in court with possessing the documents.

Ahmad added that from the intelligence assessed, the syndicate was driven by monetary gain valued at more than RM11 million.

“Each client (foreigner) was charged between RM50 to RM1,400... They include, agents, sub-agents as well as National Registration Department (NRD) officers,” he said

‘Other motives not considered’

However, when pressed if he had considered whether the syndicate had other motives, he replied: “I had no reason to look at other motives because the monetary gain (motive) is already there.”

Pressed if this meant his research was only “one-track”, he replied: “Yes”.

Ahmad said the topmost officials involved and subsequently arrested were former Sabah NRD directors Abdul Rauf Sani and Ramli Kamarudin.

Queried by watching brief lawyer Ansari Abdullah whether politicians were among those arrested, Ahmad said he he merely assessed their activities and did not take note of their political affiliations.

The questioning was led by conducting officer Manoj Kurup.

Also taking the stand today was NRD information technology assistant director Laila Abdul Wajid, who explained that its data is linked to the Election Commission through the Agency Linked Up System.

Aside from this, she explained, the EC also periodically sent the names of its registered voters in bulk to the NRD for vetting.

“There was also a full vetting of the entire electoral roll (by NRD) of 11.8 million in 2011,” she said.

Every month, she said NRD sends an average of 8,000 to 10,000 names of those who were above the age of 21, as well as names of citizens who have died, to the EC for them to update the electoral roll.
~ Malaysiakini