Eszahar Mansor, 38, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out to him before judge Elesabet Paya Wan.

On the first charge, Eszahar is accused of intending to deceive Socso officer Nurshahera Nordin by producing the names of 19 individuals who he claimed were employees of Eszahar Maju Enterprise on Oct 10, 2020.

For the remaining charges, he is accused of producing the names of 49 and 35 individuals said to be employees of the same company on Oct 6, 2020 and April 21, 2021.

All three charges are 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 for a jail sentence of up to 20 years and a fine not less than five times the amount of the said offences, if convicted.

In Alor Setar, Kedah, a husband and wife pleaded not guilty in the sessions court to three counts of submitting false documents to claim RM29,100 from Socso under the Penjana Kerjaya programme in 2021.

Anuar Che Lat, 53, and Rohana Othman, 55, who are the owners of a company, are accused of committing the offences at Wisma Perkeso in Alor Setar on March 9, June 20 and Aug 23, 2021.

They were charged with the common intention of submitting documents in the name of Widad Tours and Travel, containing fake names of individuals said to be employees of the company.

The charges were also framed under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 (2) of the same law.

Last year, MACC said it arrested 45 people in different states on suspicion of making false claims and misappropriating Penjana Kerjaya funds.

They consisted of business owners, directors, managers, shareholders, engineers and executives.