Six company owners, manager face 13 charges over false Perkeso claims

KOTA BHARU – Five company owners and a company manager, including a father and son, were charged at the Sessions Court here today with 13 counts of submitting false incentive claims under the Social Security Organisation's (Perkeso) Daya Kerjaya 2.0 Programme two years ago.

The accused are Saipuddin Mohamad, 47; Nur Shahalwani Ab. Hamid, 37; Nik Muhammad Afiq Rifqi Nik Araman, 29, together with his father Nik Araman Yusoff, 54; Eadzelin Azmi, 41; and Mohamad Faiz Harith Hazman, 30.

All pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before Judge Dazuki Ali.

Saipuddin faces six charges and Nur Shahalwani four, while the three other accused, including the father and son, face one charge each.

According to the charges, the accused, as company owners, allegedly submitted the Daya Kerjaya 2.0 Employee Verification Form in the name of their respective companies to a Perkeso agent, containing false statements with intent to deceive the agent's principal.

The offences were allegedly committed between 18 May 2024 and 9 October 2024 in the Kota Bharu area.

They were charged under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694), punishable under Section 24(2) of the same Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the false or erroneous material particulars, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

The prosecution was led by MACC deputy public prosecutors Mariah Omar and Asmah Che Wan. All the accused were represented by counsel except Nur Shahalwani.

Earlier, Mariah and Asmah proposed bail of RM15,000 with one surety, along with additional conditions for each accused.

The court then set bail of between RM8,000 and RM14,000 for each accused and fixed 13 September for mention.

All the accused posted the bail set by the court.