Originally Posted by stanley11
...major foul up in the authorities to flag out the passport
Whether this will have any bearing on the events or not (AND if the information proves to be true), I agree with the comment above, that while immigration officers at KLIA are not the brightest, any non-roundeye holding an Italian passport with an Italian sounding name would surely trigger a second look - just as if I tried to board a plane with a Chinese passport and a Chinese sounding name. Whether the passport would have been flagged as stolen and invalid depends on the Italian authorites circulating the information, then the Malaysian authorities entering that information into their immigration system. As we know, the bureaucracies of neither fine lands are known for their speed and efficiency...
Moreover Italian passport holders need a valid visa to enter China, so there had to be (a real or forged) visa sticker in that passport for whoever was using that passport to be permitted t board. Now that would indicate quite a degree of determination and preparation.
There is possibly, a very simple explanation.... Check in with stolen passport (part of a group, milling around etc etc..... Go through immigration with real one?