KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 19 -- A bypass function in the Immigration Department's system for passport issuance remains exploited by corrupt officials and syndicates that offer Malaysian passports for sale.

The Straits Times reported that the scam, which was uncovered in 2016, had allowed genuine Malaysian passports to be illegally bought for the price of US$10,000 (RM41,959) to US$60,000.

Details of the investigation were made known to the Singaporean-based portal recently.

All an officer has to do is input the fake passport applicant's details and click a button that allows him to bypass a verification process by the National Registration Department that requires a Malaysian identity document.

"Verifying an identity with NRD's myIDENTITY a...