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KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): Investigations into the Daya Kerjaya 2.0 programme fraud have not uncovered the involvement of the Social Security Organisation officers so far.
The agency, also known as Socso or its Malay acronym Perkeso, had referred suspicious cases to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after its anti-fraud division detected irregularities, CEO Datuk Seri Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said at a press briefing on Friday.
“As for staff being negligent or complicit, so far, there have been none,” he said.
Authorities have arrested nearly 100 people while probing alleged false claims totalling some RM9 million under Socso’s Daya Kerjaya 2.0. The programme is meant to create employment opportunities and support vulnerable people including senior citizens and disabled persons to enter the workforce.
The MACC found that 143 companies had filed fraudulent documents and incentive claims involving 320 workers under the programme in 2024 and 2025.
The fraud mainly involved forged supporting documents, making them difficult for Socso officers to detect during the initial claims assessment, Mohammed Azman said.
An officer who processed and disbursed the funds could not be faulted if he received falsified submitted documents; however, Socso will not compromise if there are insiders involved or colluding with any of the agents, he stressed.
Mohammed Azman said Socso would continue reviewing its standard operating procedures and welcomes external recommendations to strengthen its controls against fraudulent claims.
“We welcome this with open arms because we want to cooperate,” he continued. “This process started from the very beginning with Socso itself” when the agency detected suspicious claims in December 2024.
Socso carried out its own investigations before referring the findings to the MACC. In the process, Mohammed Azman said Socso had prevented RM4.33 million in suspected fraudulent claims from being paid, while RM1.26 million that had already been disbursed had since been recovered.