Company director charged with submitting RM1.19mil in false claims

KUALA LUMPUR: A company director pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to submitting false documents to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) for incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya programme.

S. Ratah, 54, the owner of Star Skill Sdn Bhd, was charged with providing employee verification forms with false details in the name of the company, dated May 3 and 6, 2021, to claim incentives amounting to RM1,194,440 to two Socso staff members.

She was accused of deceiving Socso as 12 of the individuals listed in the forms were not employees of the company.

The offence was allegedly committed at Wisma Perkeso, Jalan Tun Razak, in Kampung Baru here in May 2021.

The charge framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 is punishable under Section 24 of the same Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the claims or RM10,000 whichever is higher, if convicted.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry proposed bail of RM50,000, with additional conditions that the accused must surrender her passport to the court and report to the nearest MACC office every month until the disposal of the case.

In mitigation, lawyer Tarlochan Singh Dhaliwal requested bail of between RM15,000 and RM20,000 on the grounds that his client did not have a fixed income as her company had gone bankrupt and she had health problems that required follow-up treatment.

Judge Suzana Hussin set bail at RM45,000 with one surety and ordered the accused to surrender her passport to the court and report to the nearest MACC office once a month.

The court set March 14 for mention. - Bernama