A former manager of an IT training company in Kuala Lumpur has been fined RM13,000 by the Sessions Court for submitting false documents to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) in order to claim incentives under the Penjana Kerjaraya 2.0 programme. The fraudulent claims amounted to RM9,500 and were made three years ago.
48-year-old S. Kamala Segaran pleaded guilty to the three charges, and Judge Suzana Hussin imposed the sentence on Thursday (Jan 11). If Segaran fails to pay the fine, he will have to serve three months in prison.
The charges state that Segaran used three false Employee Verification Forms from the Hiring Incentive Programme of Tech Train Consultancy to claim incentives under Socso’s Penjana Kerjaraya 2.0, even though the employees named in the document were not actually employees of the company.
All the offences were committed at Wisma Perkeso, Jalan Tun Razak in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, between June 25 and Dec 21, 2021.
Under Section 471 of the Penal Code, Segaran’s offence is punishable under Section 465 of the same code, which carries a maximum prison sentence of two years or a fine, or both.
During the court proceedings, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer Mohd Yasri Yahya argued for an appropriate punishment to teach the accused a lesson. On the other hand, Segaran’s lawyer, R. Babu Naidu, requested a minimum fine, citing that his client is a single father supporting a six-year-old child and his parents.
