KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan confirmed today there are employers allegedly committing fraud to receive funds under the Penjana hiring programme, revealing 340 confirmed cases and over 180 more under investigation.
The minister said the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) anti-fraud team had received hundreds of complaints about such abuse, first highlighted by a DAP state lawmaker from Pahang who pointed to a company that used bogus names to be eligible for subsidies.
The investigation report would either be referred to the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Saravanan added.
“We take this matter seriously,” he told a virtual press conference this evening.
The hiring programme, dubbed Penjana Career 2.0, is an economic recovery incentive under the Ministry of Human Resources that is administered by Socso’s National Employment Services to promote job creation among employers while increasing employment prospects.
Yesterday, former human resources minister M. Kulasegaran urged the government to investigate claims that some firms were falsifying employment data to gain funds meant to incentivise hiring disbursed under the Penjana programme.
Kulasegaran, the DAP member of parliament for Ipoh Barat, said dubious employers allegedly abused such an arrangement by obtaining or applying for the Penjana incentive without actually hiring the individuals concerned.
One of the purported fraud cases was secretly caught on video and brought to public attention by Sabai assemblyman Kamache Doray Rajoo.
She has since lodged several police reports. In one of her complaints, she alleged that a firm falsely listed the names of new hires and was said to have applied for the Penjana hiring incentives.
Saravanan said Socso launched a probe into the firm immediately after preliminary findings showed several attempts to make false applications for subsidies from the Hiring Incentive Programme, as well as funds provided for the Penjana Career 2.0 training scheme.
“Socso’s record showed these workers paid their contribution. However, this was found to be a tactic used to pass for the programme,” the minister said.
The firm was also found to have submitted forged documents intended to trick Socso into channelling the subsidies for 36 workers,
“The case is currently being investigated by the Anti-Fraud, Ethics and Compliance department and if necessary will be referred to the enforcement agencies,” Saravanan said.
Saravanan said he has instructed Socso to act against fraudulent companies to force them to return the funds.
The minister also pledged to protect data and the privacy of workers who contribute to Socso, after the fraudulent cases raised suspicion that Socso data could have been compromised.
Up to May 18, Socso has received as many as 1,758 complaints regarding suspicious disbursement of hiring subsidies and incentives. From the total, Socso found 340 fraudulent cases while 187 are still under investigation. The rest were deemed “baseless”.
The agency had also reclaimed RM85 million worth of wage subsidies from 8,000 employers who received the funds “wrongfully”, Saravanan revealed.
