PenjanaKerjaya: Perpetrators must be brought to justice - Saravanan

PUTRAJAYA: Throwing his support behind the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency's (MACC) investigation into false claims involving the PenjanaKerjaya hiring incentive programme, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan stated that those responsible for making false claims must be brought to justice and be punished.

Saravanan said his ministry fully supported the investigation, which is being conducted under Ops Hire, and said that the operation, that began on July 13, was something that needed to be done.

"The ministry will not compromise at all as there are those who took advantage of this government initiative to misappropriate funds and make false claims," he said in a statement today.

So far, 37 individuals have been reported to have been remanded since yesterday to facilitate investigations with a total value of around RM100 million.

He said the funds under PenjanaKerjaya that were channelled to employers was a government initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic that aimed to help them employ workers who lost their jobs and to help jobseekers.

According to him, the total payments made by the Social Services Organisation (SOCSO) to employers and workers under the PenjanaKerjaya programme was RM2.34 billion, involving 45,379 employers to provide 327,789 workers with jobs.

He said any employer or training operator that made false claims in the programme are urged to come forward to SOCSO and repay the incentive to avoid stern legal action in the future.

Saravanan also said that SOCSO had suspended RM423 million in PenjanaKerjaya payments based on data analysis and continuous monitoring of the programme's operations.

"I urge employers and training operators to not ever commit such acts or make false claims as financial resources channelled are to support important government efforts to empower the human capital market in Malaysia," he added.

-- BERNAMA