PETALING JAYA, May 1 — The owners of a printing and photocopy shop in Subang have called for an urgent meeting with their branch managers nationwide following Malay Mail’s expose that two workers from the outlet had been printing and selling fake medical certificates (MC).
Following the arrests of the two suspects on Friday, one of the owners said they would instruct their branch managers to conduct background checks on the staff and to be more alert to ensure similar activities were not taking place at other branches.
“We would not have known what was going on in Subang but for Malay Mail’s investigations,” she said.
“We have called for a meeting and will discuss this matter with our branch managers. We will also carry out our own internal investigation.”
She said the company was in the midst of installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at their outlets. The cameras would not only focus on the premises, but also on computers where printing works were carried out.
“Through the CCTV, we will be able to monitor the outlets from our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur,” she said.
Malay Mail was alerted to the crooked goings-on at the ‘MC mill’ by a college student who said many people from nearby colleges, universities and offices were buying MCs at RM10 each with ease.
The buyers just had to flash a message saying, “Hey, I hear you sell MCs” on their mobile phone to get one.
Our reporters obtained eight MCs during their visits to the shop by flashing such messages and one of them was even given a lowdown on the shady operations.
Our checks showed they had over the past three years dished out thousands of MCs without the knowledge of their employer.
Our journalists made a police report on Thursday night, prompting police to carry out the raid.
The employer also lodged a police report after being informed of the dubious activities by Malay Mail.
Police had on Friday raided the Subang shop and nabbed the two employees. Police seized several pieces of equipment including a central processing unit, scanners, thumb drives and rubber stamps bearing the logos of government and private clinics.
Also seized was a bag containing MCs for customers.
The suspects told police they had a database of government and private clinics with the names of legitimate doctors in Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam.
Doctors, whose names appeared on the fake chits, were furious when told of the matter.
“When previously black-sheep doctors would issue MCs freely, this was the first time that fake MCs were sold outside the clinics on a large scale,” said a doctor who wanted to remain anonymous.
Another doctor pointed out a glaring inconsistency with the fake chits as the serial numbers did not tally with those of the clinic.
In George Town, the Health Ministry advised doctors and clinics, who had fallen victims to the syndicate, to lodge a police report.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said producing fake MCs was a serious offence.
“This should not have happened and we view this matter seriously.”
He said previously, doctors were selling MCs at their clinics but this was the first time a syndicate had been busted for selling MCs.
“Let police investigate the matter but I advise doctors and clinics to lodge reports if their names have been misused and let the law take its course,” he said.
