Arrie Syahiman Zain, 33, and the employee, Nurul Azwani Razali, 37, made their plea before judge Norashima Khalid after the charges were read to them.

They were each charged with three counts under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 with submitting an employee verification form with false details to a Socso official to claim an incentive of RM126,100 two years ago.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Socso office in Kuala Terengganu in June and July 2021.

If convicted, they face a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum involved, whichever is higher.

Arrie and Azwani also pleaded not guilty to three alternative charges under Section 471 of the Penal Code of using false documents, which carries a sentence of a jail term of up to two years, or a fine or both, upon conviction.

The court granted each of the accused bail of RM15,000 in one surety each and set Nov 28 for mention.

They were also ordered to surrender their passports to the court and report themselves to the MACC office here every month.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Mariah Omar prosecuted, while Azwani was represented by lawyer Hayyatudin Muhammad. Arrie was unrepresented.