Rosmah Mansor, the spouse of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, is eligible to receive RM800 under the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) programme.
This is according to checks by Malaysiakini via the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) website, which confirms that Rosmah (above) is "approved" to receive the financial aid.
However, Najib - who is the Pekan MP - is not eligible.
The checks were conducted after the matter was highlighted by various netizens online, who used the couple’s IC numbers that were obtained through court documents to verify this.
Malaysiakini has contacted Najib and Rosmah and is awaiting their responses.
In a Facebook post, Najib said Rosmah had never applied for the aid and that she was never notified that she qualifies for it. He also noted that the process is automated based on the IRB's records.
"If it is true and RM800 is automatically channelled to my wife's bank account, it will be donated to the government's Covid-19 Fund," he said.
The entry for Rosmah (below) was removed sometime tonight, and no record can be found through the website.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced the BPN on March 29 as part of an economic stimulus package to soften the impact of Covid-19 on the nation’s economy.
Among others, the government will pay single individuals a total of RM800 in April and in May, if they earn below RM2,000 per month.
Singles earning between RM2,001 and RM4,000 will receive RM500 over the period.
Meanwhile, households earning RM4,000 and below will receive a total of RM1,600 while households making between RM4,001 and RM8,000 will get RM1,000.
For the record, under the Members of Parliament Remuneration Act 1980, an MP is entitled to a salary of RM16,000 per month plus various perks and allowances.
However, Oriental Daily reported that there are loopholes where an "ineligible" person could still qualify to receive the BPN aid, while some netizens claimed they did not qualify although they meet the criteria to receive the money.
The report said one couple, whose household income did not exceed RM8,000, found that they each qualified to receive RM1,000 and RM1,600.
This is because they had reported their income to tax authorities separately as individuals.
The report said another netizen claimed he works in Singapore and owns three houses, but is still qualified to receive aid.
Yet another netizen reportedly said a friend earned a salary of RM8,000 working in Singapore and did not pay taxes in Malaysia, but found that he qualified to receive RM800 under BPN, in addition to three years’ worth of Bantuan Sara Hidup aid.
The netizen lamented he found that he did not qualify despite earning half as much and paying his taxes on time.
The Oriental Daily report added that some people have reported finding errors in the IRB’s data on their marital status.
Some unmarried individuals were recorded as "married", while divorcees found their status as still "married".
This has caused more irregularities when it comes to qualifying to various levels of BPN aid, the report said. - Mkini
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