Two men charged with submitting false claims for Penjana Kerjaya incentives

SHAH ALAM: Two businessmen were charged in the Sessions Court here today with submitting false documents to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to claim incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya Programme 2.0 and 3.0 programmes amounting to a total of RM756,980.

They are Bmine Enterprise manager Muhammad Asyraf Omar, 31, who pleaded not guilty to one count and owner RR Sinergi Enterprise Muhammad Aliff Abdul Rashid, 36, who claimed trial to six counts of the offence before Judge Rozilah Salleh.

Muhammad Asyraf is alleged to have submitted false documents in the Employee Verification form dated May 20, 2021, in the name of Bmine Enterprise to a Socso officer for incentives amounting to RM42,000 under the programme.

As for Muhammad Aliff, he is charged with committing a similar offence using the name Perusahaan RR Sinergi Enterprise dated May 20 and May 21 and Sept 4, 2021 at a Perkeso office to claim incentives totalling RM714,180.

They are charged with intending to deceive Socso by submitting documents containing false statements in the verification form as the list of employees named in the document were not employees of their enterprises.

Muhammad Asyraf is alleged to have committed the act at Wisma Perkeso Petaling Jaya on March 22, 2021 and Muhammad Aliff, similarly, at Perkeso Rawang, on June 12 and Sept 14, 2021.

The charges framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and punishable under Section 24 (2) carry imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the (purportedly) false claim or RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin requested Muhammad Asyraf to be bailed at RM10,000 with one surety, and Muhammad Aliff at RM50,000 with one surety and a condition for them to report to the nearest MACC office once a month pending disposal of their cases.

Muhammad Asyraf, unrepresented, pleaded for low bail on grounds that he was a breadwinner and had been charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on similar charges, while Muhammad Aliff, represented by lawyer Ahmad Naqib Azhar, requested lower bail on grounds that he had cooperated with the MACC during the investigation.

Rozilah allowed Muhammad Asyraf bail of RM5,000 and one surety, while Muhammad Aliff was released on RM50,000 bail with one surety and additional conditions as requested by the prosecution.

The court set Feb 13 and 27, respectively for mention of their cases.

-- BERNAMA