KUALA LUMPUR: The Environment Department here has detected several attempts by irresponsible parties to commit fraud using the department's name.
Department director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said that as of Friday (Sept 11), eight such cases have been detected involving government procurement order scams, resulting in losses totaling more than RM200,000 for two suppliers.
She said her department first detected the scam on Sept 4, when a representative of a diving equipment supplier came to the department to verify the authenticity of government procurement documents.
"Prior to that, KL DOE also received several inquiries regarding these government procurement documents starting in mid-August, and Tuesday from a supplier company representative who also came to inquire about a souvenir order worth more than RM100,000 supposedly made by KL DOE for an upcoming programme," she said here on Friday.
She noted that checks by her department revealed that the department had never made any souvenir orders or programme bookings. Instead, the orders were made using forged documents that abused officers' names, alongside fake letterheads and management signatures.
"Based on the suppliers' information, they claimed to have transferred more than RM100,000 to certain parties as an advance payment for the souvenirs, and KL DOE has asked the suppliers to make a police report regarding the scam," she said.
Elaborating further, she added that KL DOE also lodged a police report last Wednesday denying the involvement of department officers in the incident, while reports were also made to the department’s finance division.
However, she mentioned that on Thursday and Friday, her department still received inquiries regarding the fake procurement orders.
"In fact, today there was a supplier who was scammed with losses exceeding RM100,000, and the department has subsequently referred these cases further to the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department," she said.
Sharifah Zakiah also advised all suppliers and contractors to be cautious and verify the authenticity of any government procurement documents they received. - Bernama
