Immigration raid on karaoke joints on Jalan Raja Chulan nets 107 foreign ‘Grade A’ guest relations officers who charged up to RM20,000 for ‘VIP-level’ services

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — A raid by immigration authorities on four karaoke joints on Jalan Raja Chulan in the city early this morning resulted in the arrest of 204 people, among them 107 Chinese women suspected to be “Grade A” guest relations officers (GROs) who charged between RM1,000 and RM20,000 for “VIP-level” services.

Catering to mostly foreign men, the establishments — operating in a 21-storey office tower — charged room booking fees ranging from RM4,500 to RM30,000, depending on the size of the room and additional services, Malay news outlet Harian Metro reported today.

“Among those arrested were 12 local men, two local women, 79 men from China, 107 women from China, two Cambodian men, and two Hong Kong men,” Immigration Department deputy director-general (Operations) Jafri Embok Taha was quoted as saying at a press conference at the raid location today.

It is understood that each venue had different owners and catered only to customers who made reservations.

Attempts by a reporter who accompanied officers in the raid to interview the foreign women failed as they claimed not to understand Malay or English.

Inspections of several rooms in the venues also uncovered condoms, suspected to be used for immoral activities.

Jafri said the raid was carried out by the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department starting at 12.45am last night and followed two months of intelligence work after public complaints about immoral activities involving foreigners at these establishments.

“Tonight, we inspected 300 people, of whom 213, aged between 20 and 60, were arrested for various offences.

“Among those arrested were 12 local men, two local women, 79 men from China, 107 women from China, two Cambodian men, and two Hong Kong men,” he said at a press conference at the raid location today.

Jafri said that, based on initial investigations, the women are believed to have worked as GROs at the KTV establishments.

He added that initial findings suggest that the venues have been in operation for about five months, based on verbal admissions from several individuals and the ongoing renovations in some rooms.

“We will conduct a more thorough investigation. So far, we believe the women were brought in from outside the premises since no living quarters were found within the inspected venues.

“In total, 213 individuals were detained for suspected violations under the Immigration Act,” he added.