KUALA LUMPUR: A private employment agency here was found recruiting and sending Malaysians to work abroad illegally.
The agency would screen the potential candidates before they contact the employers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Company representatives from these two countries would fly to Malaysia for an interview session after the screening process.
The agency would receive 25 per cent of the workers’ first month salary as commission. They could rake in about RM10,000 to RM15,000 a month through this arrangement.
However, their activity was detected by Kuala Lumpur Labour Department when the department raided the agency in Menjalara in Kepong on Wednesday.
The raid was part of the department’s two-day operation against unlicensed private employment agencies.
Kuala Lumpur Labour Department director Mohd Asri Abd Wahab, who led the raid, said the agency has been operating since 2012.
“We conducted the raid after receiving a tip-off recently. Inspection at the premises in Menjalara revealed that that agency was operating without a licence from the labour department.
“We will conduct further investigation and will hand over the investigation paper to the Attorney-General’s Chamber for prosecution,” he told reporters after another raid in Setapak here today.
He said the operation was to protect Malaysian workers.
“We have heard of many cases where Malaysians working abroad are ill-treated. Most of the time, the agency that recruited them is unlicensed.
“When they are registered with the Labour Department, we can keep track of them and can prevent such incidents,” he said.
Asri said his department inspected 13 employers during the two-day operation.
“From the inspection, we detected 11 offences. Among the offences were operating without a valid private employment agency licence and failing to display licence number on the signboard.
“We will open 11 investigation papers and one of the employers has been summoned to hand in their documents next Tuesday,” he said.