KUALA LUMPUR | The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has launched an investigation into over 100 private enterprises because they may have submitted fraudulent hiring incentive claims under the Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 program.
According to an unnamed MACC source who spoke to the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, companies from a variety of industries and sectors were suspected of using the Penjana rehiring scheme during the Covid-19 economic rehabilitation phase to engage in fraudulent activities by fabricating documents to make claims for funds.
Individuals in the organizations under surveillance were reportedly found based on intelligence obtained by the MACC’s Ops Hire program and the Social Security Organization (Socso), according to a report that was released today.
The companies under investigation employ anywhere from 10 to 70 people, and they allegedly provided training and salaries in exchange for employees’ cooperation to misappropriate public funds.
The source added that in order to gather the information necessary to support their claims and take advantage of government recruiting programs, they teamed with training centers or other businesses. However, the truth is that no such recruitment took place.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya, confirmed the detention of 47 business directors for faking claim sums ranging from RM450,000 to RM2 million.
The MACC Act of 2009’s Section 18 and the Penal Code’s Section 471 are being used to investigate the firm directors, whose ages range from 30 to 70.
