The Malaysian Insight

ANOTHER two individuals were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in its ongoing probe into allegations of false claims and misappropriation of the Employment Recruitment Incentives Programme (PenjanaKerjaya) funds amounting to RM100 million.

MACC sources told The Malaysian Insight the two newest suspects were a company owner and its director. They were arrested at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya today.

This brings to 42 the number of suspects arrested by the anti-graft agency in the ongoing Ops Hire.

“They are being investigated under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009,” one source said.

“There will be more arrests soon.”

On Friday, an employee of the Social Security Organisation (Socso) were among three others who were detained.

Ops Hire was launched last week nationwide where 37 individuals were picked up for allegedly using the PenjanaKerjaya platform to make false claims.

Among those arrested were company directors, business owners, managers and engineers that included 26 men and 11 women between the ages of 28 and 70, involving 64 private companies.

These companies were supposed to hire individuals and provide training for the industrial sector but initial investigations revealed the companies were allegedly making false claims.

The companies allegedly used data from outsiders and worked closely with those involved in the training programme.

Checks revealed most of the employees were never employed by the companies which are currently being investigated.

PenjanaKerjaya under Budget 2021 is an enhanced version of the previous Hiring Incentive Programme with better rates and incentives to promote the creation of quality jobs and reduce unemployment among locals. – July 18, 2022.