MACC report lodged over Penang flood aid fraud

The Penang government has lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over "fraudulent" applications for the state's flood aid.

DAP Pulau Tikus assemblyperson Yap Soo Huey said the state government was aware that there may be "mismanagement" in one of the constituencies over the applications.

Yap is overseeing the programme dubbed "Penang Bangkit (Rise)" through which RM700 cash aid is given to victims of the Nov 4 and 5 floods on a per household basis.

"Some fraudulent applications were received from the constituencies," Yap told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"A thorough investigation is ongoing and all payments for that constituency have been put on hold pending a re-evaluation of all applications received," Yap added.

The state government has also reported the matter to the MACC for further investigation, she stressed.

Yap (above) was asked to respond to Umno Pulau Betong assemblyperson Muhamad Farid Saad's claim today that unqualified persons had received the RM700 financial aid from the Penang government when the payout was made in December last year.

According to Farid, he has received complaints that more than one person received the aid in the same household.

This is in violation of the policy that only one person per household can receive the aid.

Malaysiakini learnt from a reliable source that there were about 1,000 fraudulent applications from the constituency in question.

It is also learnt that the matter involved a constituency coordinator who had been tasked with supervising the applications.

Penang state secretary Farizan Darus, who is in charge of the aid programme, confirmed that a MACC report was lodged on Feb 15.

"An investigation has been done on the fraudulent cases, on how much was wrongly paid out and on those who were involved in the matter," he said.

"We will issue a report on the matter as soon as we have completed the investigations," Farizan (below) added.

As of Jan 4, about 49,533 victims of the disastrous November floods, which killed seven and displaced thousands, have receivedtheir aid.

The state had received about RM10 million in donations for the flood victims and this had been channelled to the “Penang Bangkit” programme.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also announced in his Budget 2018 last year that RM10 million would also be set aside to address landslide problems and that the state government will conduct climate change studies to address flood woes. -Mkini