THROWING his support behind the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency’s (MACC) investigation into false claims involving the PenjanaKerjaya hiring incentive programme, Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan stated that those responsible for making false claims must be brought to justice and be punished.

Saravanan said his ministry fully supported the investigation, which was being conducted under Ops Hire, and said that the operation that began on July 13 needed to be done.

“The ministry will not compromise at all as there are those who took advantage of this government initiative to misappropriate funds and make false claims,” he said in a statement today.

So far, 37 individuals have been reported to have been remanded since yesterday to facilitate investigations on false claims totalling around RM100 million. 

Saravanan said the total payments made by the Socso to employers and workers under the PenjanaKerjaya programme was RM2.34 billion, involving 45,379 employers to provide 327,789 workers with jobs.

He said any employer or training operator that made false claims in the programme are urged to come forward to Socso and repay the incentive to avoid stern legal action.

Saravanan added that Socso had suspended RM423 million in PenjanaKerjaya payments based on data analysis and continuous monitoring of the programme’s operations.

“I urge employers and training operators to not ever commit such acts or make false claims as financial resources channelled are to support important government efforts to empower the human capital market in Malaysia.” – Bernama, July 15, 2022.