Socso’s chief executive officer, Azman Aziz Mohammed, said the suspension was made based on the data analysis and continuous monitoring by the agency’s Anti-Fraud, Ethics and Integrity unit.

He said the investigation into the false claims was made through Ops Hire, conducted in collaboration with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after surveillance and intelligence conducted since May last year found that certain employers had made false claims and misappropriated these funds.

“Socso is committed to giving its support and full cooperation to MACC in carrying out its  investigation into the PenjanaKerjaya false claim cases involving employers and training providers under Ops Hire,” he said in a statement today.

“Socso views seriously the misappropriation of funds as the government’s financial assistance is meant to ease the burden of those who are really in need, according to the set requirements and procedures.”

Azman said Socso had disbursed RM2.34 billion to 45,379 employers to hire 327,789 jobseekers under the PenjanaKerjaya programme.

“Socso always emphasises integrity, honesty and trust in distributing the government’s financial assistance because it involves taxpayer funds.

“Hence, employers are reminded to be honest when submitting their applications for any government assistance programmes, including for PenjanaKerjaya implemented by the agency,” he said.

He said employers who had misappropriated the funds or submitted a false claim were  advised to come forward and make voluntary repayments or contact Socso to resolve the problem before action was taken against them.