M Karthikesan, 44, the owner of Fajaa Murudana Sdn Bhd, is alleged to have submitted an employee verification form for the Employee Recruitment Incentive programme, dated May 12 and 25, and June 4, 2021, containing false information on behalf of the company to three Socso officials.

He was charged with the intention to deceive Socso by giving the names of 34 individuals who he claimed to be his “employees”.

Karthikesan was charged with committing the offence at Wisma Perkeso, Jalan Tun Razak and at Persiaran Perdana Precinct 2, Putrajaya, between May 19 and Aug 3, 2021.

The charges were framed under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 (2) of the same law which provides imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine not less than five times the value of the subject matter of the offence or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.

Judge Azura Alwi allowed bail at RM50,000 with one surety. Karthikesan was also ordered to surrender his passport and report to the Selangor MACC office.

The court set March 1 for mention.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Fadhly Zamry prosecuted, while lawyer S Vijaya represented the accused.

Last week, Karthikesan pleaded not guilty to nine counts of committing a similar offence, involving false claims amounting to more than RM1.4 million.