PETALING JAYA: A company owner was fined RM200,000 by the Ayer Keroh sessions court today for using forged documents to claim incentives under the Penjana Kerjaya hiring incentive programme.
Judge Elesabet Paya Wan meted out the sentence on Azmi Mat Sah, 55, after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge.
The court also ordered Azmi to serve 12 months in jail if he failed to pay the fine, Bernama reported.
Azmi was charged with committing the offence at the office of DRAZZ Global Resources at Jalan Kristal Merah 2, Limbongan Business Complex in the Melaka Tengah district on June 5, 2021.
The charge was framed under Section 471 of the Penal Code for using forged documents, punishable under Section 465 of the same law, which carries a maximum prison sentence of two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Irwanshah Abdul Samat asked for a deterrent sentence as the offence involved public interest and some of the documented workers had never worked with the accused.
Lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork, representing Azmi, appealed for a minimum sentence without jail time because his client has chronic high blood pressure.
He also said Azmi had to bear a RM250,000 loss after receiving nearly 100 workers from Sabah, but was unable to provide them with job placements.
The judge also allowed the balance of RM16,402.93 in the company’s account to be forfeited to the government.
In May, MACC said it had arrested 67 people and frozen several bank accounts over alleged links to false claims made under the Penjana Kerjaya programme.
The freezing of the bank accounts, involving a total of RM3.2 million, and the arrests were a result of MACC’s special nationwide operation dubbed Ops Hire 2.0.