Malaysia’s anti-graft official pledges ‘thorough’ probe in airport extortion case as ‘middleman’ identified

Malaysia’s tourism minister last week intervened at the airport to ‘rescue’ a Chinese national purportedly being extorted by immigration officials

The anti-corruption agency has recorded statements from more than 14 people, and identified a ‘middleman who was allegedly responsible for making the demand’

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Malaysia’s tourism minister Tiong King Sing, who is also the country’s special envoy to China, this week told local media that the incident was not isolated and that he’d had to make similar interventions in the past. Photo: Facebook

Published: 7:56pm, 6 Jul 2023

Malaysian authorities have said they are continuing to investigate a much-talked about incident at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last week, when the country’s tourism, arts and culture minister intervened to “rescue” a Chinese national who was purportedly being extorted by immigration officials.

Tiong King Sing, who is also Malaysia’s special envoy to China, this week told local media that the incident was not isolated and that he had to make similar interventions in the past – giving rise to questions of whether racketeering was entrenched in some circles of the bureaucracy.

The Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur has said it was aware of the episode and “attached great importance and makes every effort to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in Malaysia”.

Tiong King Sing last week intervened to “rescue” a Chinese national who was purportedly being extorted by immigration officials at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Photo: Bloomberg

Azam Baki, the chief of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said on Wednesday that the agency had thus far recorded statements from 14 people, including the minister, relating to the incident.

Azam said the woman and her travel companion were allowed into Malaysia after Tiong’s intervention and had subsequently left the country on Wednesday accompanied by a colleague.

“We have identified the middleman who was allegedly responsible for making the demand,” Azam said, referring to a culprit allegedly involved in seeking bribes to allow individuals who have visa issues to enter Malaysia.

The person, according to Azam, was employed by an agency contracted by KLIA to deal with individuals served with “Not to Land” orders.

“We have to thoroughly investigate whether the contract given to this company is something that is allowed by the government,” Azam was quoted as saying by local media.