Dhaka: Twenty eight Bangladesh nationals were arrested by the Malaysian Immigration Department as they were allegedly running an illegal homestay business in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, reports the online version of Malaysian English daily the Star.

Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said a raid was conducted on Thursday night based on reports in the media about the illegal business.

‘We found that seven different companies were simultaneously carrying out the homestay business without permits,’ he said in a statement on Friday (March 9).

He said the foreigners who ran the companies rented 20 apartment units for long term in order to run their business.

‘The rooms are then rented out for as low as RM150 and payments are only made in cash.’

‘All of the detainees have been held for not having proper travel documents,’ he said.

A total of RM29,000 in cash along with various documents related to the illegal business was also seized.