KUALA LUMPUR: Reports were voluntarily made to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the PenjanaKerjaya fund misappropriation case, says Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.
The Human Resources Minister said the issue of misappropriation was uncovered by Socso following a forensic audit.
“We voluntarily reported to MACC to take action without taking into consideration political ideologies,” he said in Parliament on Monday (July 25) during a winding-up debate on amendments to the Employment Insurance Scheme Act.
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He was responding to Fahmi Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) on whether or not a forensic audit was conducted regarding the scandal.
He added that over 45,000 companies were part of PenjanaKerjaya and only 66 were identified in the case.
“It is not easy to monitor 45,000 companies. We could have overlooked one or two but we have identified them and complained to MACC,” he added.
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Asked by M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) if there were MIC members involved in the case, Saravanan said that had yet to be proven.
On whether the funds embezzled amounted to RM100mil, Saravanan said the figure was not determined yet as the investigation is ongoing.
PenjanaKerjaya was introduced in 2020 under the National Economic Recovery Plan, offering financial incentives of between RM600 and RM1,000 to employers for each employee or apprentice employed for up to six months.
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Socso has suspended payments totalling RM423mil for the programme following the probe.
The amendments Bill to the Employment Insurance Scheme Act was passed after being tabled for the second and third reading on Monday.
