KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has vowed today to hunt down fraudulent employers who abuse the incentives given by the organisation to keep their workers afloat.
In a press conference here, Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said that he has received 281 reports from employees, who claimed that they had not received any benefits from the aid received by their employers.
He said the complaints surround the three main aid programmes under Socso; the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU), the Hiring Incentive as well as the Employee Retention Programme (ERP).
“RM11.8 billion Wage Subsidy payments have been made to 322,022 employers, and of this amount, we find that now, from the complaints made to Socso, 30 cases are marked as fraudulent claims cases, identified in several states. We will be channeling this information to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for further action.
“Today I want to stress that Socso would not compromise, would not give in to any employers, or certain parties who make claims based on the announcement by the prime minister.
“We view this seriously, and are looking into this attentively, as we find that there are several claims which have been made to Socso, from the basis of it, the aim and the objective of this government initiative is to help workers, but this is not channeled to the workers,” Mohammed Azman said.
He also called on employers who have made their claims, which are not intended to be used for their workers, to rightfully pay their workers or face charges.
“Secondly, there are employers who submitted fake information or documents. This too, we have identified several employers and Socso, with our officers from the audit and anti-fraud departments would follow up on this matter and work together with the authorities to take necessary action,” he added.
Mohammed Azman also called on employers who had submitted fake information to receive the monetary aid, to voluntarily step up and return the payments made to them.
He also confirmed a recent case announced by the MACC, whereby a 33-year old managing director of a company, had submitted claims for 185 of his workers, citing loss of income by over 50 per cent.
Socso paid the said company RM415,000 and the MACC announced that it would be charging the employer.
“Like I said there are several other companies which have been identified and we will submit this information to the MACC and collabourate with the MACC to enable us to initiative follow-up actions.
“We ask them to come to us on their own, or you have to face the music. If you are dishonest, or furnished us with incorrect information, just wait, when the authorities would come after you for action,” he added.
