KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — Three individuals were charged at the Sessions Court today for allegedly submitting false documents to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to claim hiring incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya Programme 2.0 amounting to RM190,700.
All three accused claimed trial when the charges were read to them before three separate Sessions Court judges Rozina Ayob, Azura Alwi and Suzana Hussin respectively.
According to the charges, AS Hayana Services proprietor Amir Shariffuddin Haron was charged with one count of allegedly submitting the Hiring Incentive Programme employee verification form dated March 5, 2021 to Socso to claim incentives under the programme totalling RM45,900 to deceive the body, when in fact the document listed names of individuals who were not new employees of the company.
Separately under a similar offence, Ikon Technical Academy Sdn Bhd chief executive Noorun Nashriah Ramli was charged with seven counts of allegedly submitting the Hiring Incentive Programme employee verification form dated between June 25 and August 14, 2021 to Socso through a third party to claim incentives under the programme totalling RM112,000 to deceive the body.
The third accused, Frans F&B Enterprise proprietor Farhan Taufik was charged with one count of allegedly submitting the Hiring Incentive Programme employee verification form dated June 1, 2021 to Socso through a third party to claim incentives under the programme totalling RM32,800 to deceive the body.
Amir Shariffudin and Farhan allegedly committed the offence at Wisma Perkeso on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur while Noorun Nasriah allegedly did so at Menara Perkeso Putrajaya between March 5 and October 1, 2021. The charges were framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the false information or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Azura granted bail of RM35,000 to Noorun with one surety, while judges Rozina and Suzana allowed Amir and Farhan to post RM8,000 bail, also with one surety.
The accused were also ordered to report to the nearest MACC office every month until the disposal of their cases.
The court fixed February 14 for case management involving all three cases.
Introduced under the Budget 2021 under then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the hiring programme is an enhanced version of the previous hiring and training programme under Socso, which promotes the creation of quality jobs and reduces unemployment among Malaysians.
In July last year, MACC had announced the remand of individuals to assist in the investigation into allegations of false claims and misappropriation of the misappropriation of the PenjanaKerjaya funds amounting to RM100 million.
The individuals, comprising company owners, directors, managers, shareholders, engineers and executives, were detained in an operation dubbed Op Hire, conducted in collaboration with the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
