Socso incentive claims land four Melaka company directors in court

MELAKA, Aug 12 — Four company directors pleaded not guilty in the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court here today to charges of submitting claim documents containing false information to agents of the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) to deceive the agency two years ago.

The company directors were accused of providing two Perkeso agents with documents, namely the Daya Kerjaya 2.0 Employee Verification Form under the company’s name containing false information, attached in an incentive claim application under the Perkeso Daya Kerjaya 2.0 Programme.

The first accused, Henry Ratnaike, 45, who is the Director of Alpha Buildcon, faces four charges of committing the offence at Taman Merdeka Jaya, Batu Berendam, in the district of Melaka Tengah on May 10, 2024.

The second accused, Koh Kai Loon, 40, who is the Director of PK Tan Auto and Car Repair, faces one charge of committing the offence at Taman Kasawari Utama, Durian Tunggal, in the state of Melaka on June 14, 2024.

Prima Kerjaya Trading Director Gan Pay Kiat, 32, faces two charges of committing the offence at Jalan KPKs 3, Kompleks Perniagaan Kota Syahbandar on May 27 and 31, 2024.

All three accused were charged with committing offences under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694) and are punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act.

Another director of Alpha Buildcon, Ling Yate May, 58, faces four charges of abetting Henry by providing the Daya Kerjaya 2.0 Employee Verification Form, believed to contain false statements, to Perkeso agents to deceive the agency.

Ling was accused of committing all the offences at Taman Merdeka Jaya, Batu Berendam on May 10, 2024, and was charged under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act 2009 (Act 694), read together with Section 18 of the same Act, which is punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act.

If convicted, all accused face a prison sentence of not more than 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the false or erroneous material particulars if they can be valued or are monetary in nature, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharina Farhana Nor Sa’ari offered bail of RM15,000 for each accused, along with additional conditions requiring all their passports to be surrendered to the court and for them to report to the nearest MACC office once a month until the case is concluded.

Judge Rohatul Akmar Abdullah granted bail of RM15,000 for Henry, RM9,000 for Koh, RM13,000 for Gan, and RM15,000 for Ling, approved the additional conditions proposed by the prosecution, and set September 14 as the next mention date.

Henry was represented by lawyer FB Ng, while the other three were not represented. — Bernama