AYER KEROH, MELAKA: A Melaka Immigration Department officer has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of accepting bribes totalling RM1,950, in a case tied to the alleged harbouring of a foreign national at a Jasin restaurant. Mohd Nazrul Md Yasin, 39, entered his plea before judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court. What the charges allegeAccording to a Bernama report, Mohd Nazrul was charged with accepting five separate payments of RM300 each from Muhammad Omar, 69, as an inducement not to take legal action against Omar's daughter, Nurul Alya, 23. She was accused of harbouring a foreign national, identified as Kusmiyati, at a restaurant on Jalan Muar, Merlimau, Jasin, between January 1 and May 31, 2025. Kusmiyati was allegedly staying at the premises, which prosecutors say amounted to an offence under the Immigration Act 1959/63. Mohd Nazrul faces two further charges over payments of RM300 and RM150 allegedly taken for the same purpose at the same address between June 3 and July 10, 2025. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of at least five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher. Why this matters for foreigners in MalaysiaThe case highlights how strictly Malaysia's Immigration Act treats the harbouring of undocumented foreign nationals, whether the person sheltering them is a relative, employer, landlord or business owner. Anyone hosting a foreign worker, employee or acquaintance without valid documentation, even briefly, can face prosecution, and so can the foreign national themselves. It also underlines that bribery in immigration enforcement cuts both ways: officers who solicit or accept payments to overlook such cases are themselves committing a serious offence under Malaysian law. Expats and long-term foreign residents dealing with pass renewals, employer sponsorship or day-to-day interactions with Immigration officers should be aware that any request for an unofficial "fee" should be refused and can be reported to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Foreign nationals found without valid documentation in Malaysia, regardless of how they came to be undocumented, can face detention, fines or deportation under the Immigration Act. That risk sits alongside whatever separate case is brought against anyone accused of sheltering them, which is why cases like this one tend to involve charges against several parties at once. The trial is ongoing, and Mohd Nazrul remains presumed innocent unless the charges are proven in court. July 21 2026
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