6,000 made fraudulent BR1M claims

PETALING JAYA: Apart from syndicates using the name of government aid programmes to cheat unsuspecting Malaysians, there have also been cases of “overqualified” individuals trying to get such assistance.

More than 6,000 Malaysians were found to have abused the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) between 2012 and 2014 by making fraudulent claims, costing the Government over RM3mil in that period.

Many made overlapping claims during each payout, and to complicate things further, an estimated 73% have not returned the money.

The Finance Ministry has issued letters of demand to these recipients, and those who do not repay the money risk having their names blacklisted from getting future assistance.

A few years ago, the ministry uncovered a case where the same person applied for BR1M in different states but was caught when authorities traced his identity card number.

Last year, it was reported that a single man had claimed he was married so he could receive RM1,200 in household aid instead of the RM450 given to unmarried recipients.

The fraudulent application raised a red flag in the system as the man had used the name of his married friend’s wife, not realising that the friend had also submitted an application with his wife listed in it.

Also last year, a Penang state exco officer apologised and admitted to falsely declaring himself as unemployed when applying for BR1M.