The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has found a total of 340 misuse and fraudulent claims made by employers under the Penjana hiring fund, said Human Resources Minister M Saravanan.
He said the ministry and Socso viewed seriously the allegation of fake data used by employers in their applications for the PenjanaKerjaya hiring incentive programme.
"As of May 18, Socso received 1,758 complaints involving dubious payments and salary payment issues. Out of this number, a total of 1,231 complaints were found to be baseless.
"A total of 340 cases were suspected to be fraudulent claims and misuse. The remaining 187 cases were still under investigation for further action," Saravanan said in an online press conference today.
He warned that employers who submitted fake documents in their applications to Socso would face legal action.
He added that these cases may be referred to the police or to the MACC.
This came after DAP's Sabai assemblyperson Kamache Doray Rajoo lodged police reports against a firm, in which she claimed a few individuals were registered as Socso contributors as newly hired staff of the firm, despite not having worked before.
Yesterday, former human resources minister M Kulasegaran urged the government to investigate claims that some firms filed fake employment data to gain funds meant to be an incentive for hiring under the Penjana plan.
Under the PenjanaKerjaya, employers are offered financial incentives from RM600 to RM1,000 for each worker hired up to six months. The programme has helped more than 160,000 unemployed Malaysians to secure jobs.
Saravanan said Socso investigated Kamache's claim and found in its preliminary probe that the irresponsible employer indeed attempted to make a false application under the PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 hiring and training incentive programme.
"Socso's record showed that contributions had been paid by the employers.
"This is a tactic used in order to comply with the qualifying conditions in the application of the programme.
"The employer was found to have faked documents after a Socso officer received a confirmation letter that 36 of the staff signed and confirmed they were working with the firm," he said.
The case, which is still being investigated, will be passed to enforcement authorities if the need arises, Saravanan added.
He also said Socso received RM85.1 million from more than 8,000 employers who failed to comply with the conditions set under the wage subsidy programme and made their repayments to the organisation. - Mkini
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