JOHOR BARU: A former company director was fined RM21,000 by the Sessions Court here for submitting false documents to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to claim incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 programme.
P. Poowesna, 36, pleaded guilty to the four charges against her on Wednesday (July 10), following which judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Ariffin Ismail imposed the fine, in default one month's jail.
She was first charged together with her ex-husband A. Mohana Sundharam, 35, on Nov 14 last year for submitting false claims amounting to RM62,120.
The court was initially set to sentence both accused on Wednesday but Mohana Sundharam, who is also a party youth leader in Johor, was absent from the proceedings because of food poisoning.
His surety presented a medical certificate from a private hospital to the judge and informed the court that he had taken ill on Tuesday (July 9) morning.
The court allowed his case to be heard on Aug 8 and proceeded to deliver its sentence on Poowesna.
The accused, who were husband and wife as well as the directors of TMB Resources at the time, were charged with submitting false claims for the Penjana initiative for 10 alleged new employees to Socso on May 30, 2021 with intent to mislead the agency.
The four charges were framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
The case was prosecuted by MACC prosecutor Nur Zahida Muhammad Ruzi while Poowesna was represented by Muhammad Mohd Nasir.
The Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 initiative was a hiring incentive programme where employers could apply for up to RM6,000 per person per month for up to six months when hiring new employees or apprentices.
