KOTA KINABALU, June 30 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor urged authorities to exhaustively prosecute a state politician arrested on suspicion of selling falsified identity documents to undocumented migrants and refugees.

He also called for the investigation to be continued in order to expose others involved.

"If found to be true, the suspect and his syndicate members must face the full brunt of the law,” he said in a brief statement here.

He was commenting on Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s announcement on the arrest of Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah (PPRS) leader Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualap and one Mohd Amkah Ahmad under Section 420 of the Penal Code today.

The police arrested the two who were described as masterminds of a syndicate selling falsified identification papers to foreigners that purportedly entitled them to all government services and put them on a pathway to citizenship.

They were charged at the Shah Alam magistrates’ court in Selangor today.

Mohd Arshad, from Sandakan, was PPRS president and had challenged then chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman in the 2013 general election for the Sungai Sibuga state seat.

PPRS had also been linked to the United Sabah Alliance ahead of the 2018 general election, comprising the Sabah Progressive Party, Sabah Star and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.