THE Social Security Organisation (Socso) has confirmed the arrest of one of its officers by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“The officer was suspected of accepting bribes for approving claims under the Penjana Kerjaya hiring incentive programme. Socso wants to stress that it will not interfere in the matter. (We) leave this to MACC to investigate, and we will fully cooperate in their investigation,” it said in a statement today.
It was revealed yesterday (May 18) that the MACC had detained a civil servant who was suspected of accepting a bribe from a business owner in the amount of thousands of ringgit to approve claims totaling RM 1.3 mil.
The suspect allegedly committed the act between 2021 and 2022 through a middleman.
Moreover, the suspect, who was in his late 20s was apprehended on Wednesday (May 17) at MACC headquarters in Putrajaya when he was summoned to submit a statement.
MACC senior investigations director Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim confirmed the arrest and said the civil servant was being investigated under Section 17A of the MACC Act.
Meanwhile on Tuesday (May 16), MACC stated that it had detained 47 company directors who allegedly submitted false claims through the Penjana Kerjaya programme. An MACC source said the false claims ranged from RM450,000 to RM2 mil.
Furthermore, Socso CEO Datuk Seri Azman Aziz said the arrests were a continuation of the strategic collaboration between Socso and MACC through Ops Hire, which was first carried out in July 2022 to address embezzlement of government funds.
“Ops Hire had saved more than RM500 mil in Penjana Kerjaya incentive funds from misuse by employers.” — May 19, 2023
Main photo credit: Selangorkini
