KUALA LUMPUR: Three more individuals, including a housewife who claimed to be a bankrupt, were charged separately at the Sessions Courts here today with falsifying documents to claim Social Security Organisation (Socso) Penjana Kerjaya's hiring incentives totalling RM123,100.
Housewife, Mazlina Ali, 45; barber, Mohamad Mohamed Amin, 31; and insurance agent, Isa Mohd Ismail, 28; all pleaded not guilty before judges Azura Alwi, Rozina Ayob and Suzana Hussin.
They were charged in separate courtrooms under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) Act which can be punished under 24(2) of the same Act.
It carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount received or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Mazlina was charged with making a false claim of RM3,600 from the Socso hiring programme, through an individual, on March 9, 2021 at the Socso office in Kuala Lumpur.
She submitted a falsified staff member verification form under the company named Perusahaan Aida Hani Enterprise to receive the claim.
Mohamad was charged with two counts of also falsifying documents to claim RM23,900 on March 25, 2021 at Socso Kuala Lumpur office, and RM44,600 on May 29, 2021, at Socso Putrajaya office.
He allegedly made the claims under companies; Perusahaan Translimit Industries and Perusahaan Mikel Enterprise, by submitting five staff members verification forms and names of new workers, who did not work at his companies at the material time.
On the other hand, Isa was charged with submitting falsified documents of people who did not work at his company at the material time as Isa Legacy company owner to claim RM51,000 from Socso.
Deputy public prosecutors Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry, Nurul Atiqah Mohamad Alias and Siti Amirah Muhammad Ali, and MACC prosecution officer Mohd Yasri Yahya prosecuted the cases.
Isa was represented by lawyer Lokman Zainal while the two others are unrepresented.
The prosecutors offered bail of between RM2,000 and RM20,000 with one surety.
They also proposed additional conditions of surrendering their passports and report to the nearest MACC office once a month.
The trio requested for a lower bail including Mazlina who claimed to be a bankrupt.
"I am also housewife with no income, I have five children. My husband is working at a wholesale market as a sales assistant," she said.
When Azura asked for proof of her bankruptcy status, she said she did not bring it to the court today.
The judges allowed bail between RM5,000 and RM6,000 with one surety for each charges and ordered them to report themselves to the nearest MACC office every month until the case has been dismissed.
Case mention is fixed on Feb 14 and 22.
To date, 10 individuals have been slapped with similar charges of falsifying documents to claim cash from Socso's PenjanaKerjaya hiring incentives.
PenjanaKerjaya was announced by the government under Socso as an initiative to increase job opportunities for the people by providing incentives of between RM600 to RM1,000 each for up to six months.