Company owner claims trial to six counts of deceiving Socso agent

ALOR STAR: A 38-year-old company owner has claimed trial to six counts of deceiving a Social Security Organisation (Socso) agent on the Career Generator Programme 2.0 to the tune of RM231,340, two years ago

The accused, Mohd Yuzri Azhan Md Yusoff, 38, pleaded not guilty as the charges were read before Judge Rohatul Akmar Abdullah at the Sessions Court here today.

The accused also requested a trial for six alternative charges of using counterfeit documents to make similar claims.

According to the first charge, the accused, who owns Azhken Smart Global, alleged to have submitted a document, namely the Employee Incentive Programme Employee Hiring Confirmation Form, to a state Socso employment service officer. The action was alleged to have been done with the intention to deceive the said officer, even though the accused had reason to believe that the submitted document contained false information.

All six charges state that the list of 13 employees declared in the submitted Employee Incentive Programme Employee Hiring Confirmation Form does not belong to Azhken Smart Global.

All of the offenses are alleged to have taken place on May 4, 2021, June 25, 2021, June 4, 2021, August 5, 2021, August 10, 2021, and August 21, 2021, at the state Socso Office, Jalan Teluk Wan Jah, Alor Star.

The charges were framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and can be punished under Section 24(2) of the same Act which carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine not less than five times the false information's assessed value or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer Salizawaty Abd. Sama prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyer Nur Aida Md Zainuddin.

Meanwhile, for the six alternative charges, the accused was alleged to have dishonestly used a genuine document, the Employee Incentive Programme Employee Hiring Confirmation Form, in the name of his company to claim the same incentives through the same Socso officer.

Through the six alternative charges, the accused was alleged to have reason to believe that the document is fake.

As such, the accused was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code and can be punished under Section 465 of the same Act, which carries a maximum penalty of up to two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.

All of the offenses were alleged to have occurred on the same date and at the same location, involving the same claim amount.

Initially, the prosecution proposed that the accused be granted bail at a rate of RM60,000 for all charges, but the defense counsel deemed the amount too high and requested the court to set a lower rate, considering that the accused's account had also been frozen by the MACC.

The court then allowed the accused to post bail at RM18,000 for all charges with condition that the accused report to the Perlis MACC office once a month.

Sumber: New Straits Times