An Indonesian woman has been sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment after admitting to unlawfully possessing 55 foreign passports and abetting the forgery of immigration employment pass endorsements on two passports.
Rukmiati was sentenced by Intermediate Court Judge Pengiran Masni Pengiran Haji Bahar on September 18, 2025 after pleading guilty to all three charges.
She was convicted of an offence under Section 12(1)(g) of the Passports Act, Chapter 146, and two offences under Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Section 466 involving the forgery of official immigration documents.
The first charge arose on June 6, 2023, when Rukmiati was found in possession of 55 passports belonging to other people at a rented room at Delima Square.
The passports included 54 Indonesian passports and one Bangladeshi passport.
Rukmiati admitted that since 2021, she had received passports from their holders for the purpose of obtaining immigration passes, including employment, student and dependent passes.
She was not employed by a licensed employment agency and had no licence or lawful authority from the Immigration Department to provide such services.
The Department of Immigration and National Registration, together with the Royal Brunei Police Force, raided the premises on June 6, 2023 and seized the passports.
Rukmiati also admitted that she had been working with Nurul Jannah binti Abdullah Argente @ Memenia Embile Argente since 2021 to falsely endorse immigration passes on passports.
She charged passport holders between BND50 and BND1,200 depending on the type and duration of the immigration service, while paying Nurul Jannah between BND300 and BND600 per passport for the endorsements.
In one instance, Rukmiati admitted conspiring with Nurul Jannah on January 11, 2023 to forge an employment pass endorsement on the passport of Sukaesih.
A counterfeit rubber stamp bearing “Employment Pass For Controller of Immigration Brunei Darussalam HQ105” was used, purportedly issued by the Controller of Immigration.
Rukmiati admitted receiving BND900 for the service.
In the second forgery offence, she admitted conspiring with Nurul Jannah on March 13, 2021 to forge an employment pass endorsement on the passport of Chowiarti.
A counterfeit stamp bearing “Employment Pass For Controller of Immigration Brunei Darussalam HQ123” was used, and Rukmiati admitted charging Chowiarti BND1,200.
The forged employment passes were not recorded in the Immigration Visa and Pass system.
Rukmiati, who was residing in Brunei on a Special Pass, had no previous convictions.
The court stressed that immigration offences are serious and require deterrent sentences in the public interest, as they can undermine national security and the proper implementation of immigration laws and procedures.
The court also held that each case must be decided on its own merits, with the sentence reflecting the offender’s culpability while protecting the interests of the public and Government.
The court found that Rukmiati had deliberately engaged in the illegal immigration activities over several years, possessed a large number of passports, made financial gains and acted in disregard of her own immigration status.
Her conduct was considered particularly serious because she was providing immigration services without lawful authority while residing in Brunei under a Special Pass.
The court said the Special Pass did not permit her to obtain employment, but she had taken advantage of her status to conduct illegal activities.
A deterrent sentence was therefore considered necessary to discourage others from abusing immigration status and violating immigration laws.
For the passport offence, the court adopted a nine-month starting point, taking into account her overall culpability. A one-third reduction was then applied for her guilty plea and clean record, resulting in six months’ imprisonment.
For the two forgery-related charges, the court considered the offences more serious because the forged employment passes could enable foreign nationals to unlawfully extend their stay and potentially move undetected across borders.
The court adopted a 12-month starting point for each forgery offence, reduced to eight months each after taking into account her guilty plea and clean record.
The individual sentences were six months for the first charge, eight months’ for the second charge and eight months’ imprisonment for the third charge.
Applying the totality principle, the court ordered the sentences to run consecutively because the offences involved two different offences and different people.
The total sentence was therefore 22 months’ imprisonment.
The court also considered whether Rukmiati’s previous detention under the Internal Security Act should be taken into account.
Her counsel, Haji Daud Ismail, argued that she had spent two years and 28 days in detention under the ISA before being released on July 10, 2025, followed by remand in prison in connection with the present charges.
The prosecution argued that the ISA detention should not be treated as mitigation or used to reduce the sentence because it was imposed for national security reasons.
The court distinguished the authorities cited by both sides and found that Rukmiati’s case bore similarities to Ajizul bin Dagang v Public Prosecutor, as she had initially been placed on court-ordered remand before the Internal Security Department intervened.
The court noted that, unlike a case where an accused had been released on court bail before later being detained under preventive legislation, there was an overlap between Rukmiati’s court-ordered remand and her subsequent detention.
The court therefore ordered that her 22-month sentence run from June 5, 2023, the date she was first remanded in custody pursuant to the court’s order.
DPP Pengiran Hajah Azmeema Pengiran Haji Mohiddin represented the Public Prosecutor.
Haji Daud Ismail and Sheikh Waez Sheikh Aubid of Messrs Daud Ismail & Co represented Rukmiati, with an Indonesian Interpreter assisting her.