KUALA LUMPUR – Two men and one woman were nabbed to facilitate an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over false claims and the misappropriation of RM100 million in Employment Recruitment Incentives Programme (PenjanaKerjaya) funds.
A source told The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister publication Getaran that one of the suspects, who is a company director, was remanded until July 22, after Putrajaya magistrate Mohd Dinie Shazwan Ab Shukor approved the MACC application yesterday.
The source said the 46-year-old man was arrested at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya at 8.30am on Monday as he was believed to have made false claims regarding details in the programme’s online worker verification forms.
The source said the false claims, worth a total of RM1 million, were sent to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) as part of the government’s Economic Recovery Plan and the implementation of PenjanaKerjaya.
Another two suspects in Pahang were remanded today until July 23, after magistrate Nor Izzati Zakaria approved it at the Kuantan magistrates’ court.
“The two suspects are company directors,” said the source.
The source added that the duo, aged 46 and 35, were arrested at the MACC office in Pahang at about 4.30pm on Monday for making a similar false claim involving RM600,000.
Meanwhile, MACC senior investigations director Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim had confirmed all three latest arrests, which are being investigated under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009.
“The probe is still being carried out and we do not discount the possibility of more arrests in the near future.”
Yesterday, two people were detained to facilitate the investigation into the PenjanaKerjaya case.
A source said the duo – a company CEO and a director – were detained at 1.30pm on Monday.
On July 14, MACC detained 37 individuals across several states in its ongoing PenjanaKerjaya probe.
A day later, three more people were arrested in Johor and Penang, bringing the total number of people detained to 45.
Op Hire, in collaboration with Socso, has so far involved 66 companies, and seen 36 accounts being frozen with a total value of more than RM7 million. – The Vibes, July 20, 2022
