KOTA BARU, MALAYSIA The Kelantan Road Transport Department (RTD) seized 20 fake driving licences in the first four months of this year.

The department believed that a syndicate was involved in producing the fake licences.

It is also believed that the licences were made in Thailand using sophisticated equipment.

"We have referred the case to the police and they are now conducting their investigations. However, we believe that none of the state RTD officers are involved," said state RTD director Ghani Che Kasim yesterday.

He said most of the fake driving licences were seized from teenage motorists who were believed to have paid syndicate members up to RM1,000 for a licence.
Ghani advised the public to deal directly with driving schools and sit for their tests to avoid being cheated.

He said driving schools only charged between RM400 and RM500 for each student.

"We want the public to know that the department had never appointed middlemen to carry out any transactions and if they come across such people, they should report the matter to us immediately," Ghani said.

In another development, he said the department had issued more than 8,000 summonses to motorists for various traffic offences in the first four months of the year.

"Overloaded commercial vehicles, driving without a licence and having expired road tax were among the common offences," he added.