On alert: Sasedharan says ppSb initiated an internal investigation four weeks ago after it was alerted by Socso that at least 15 of its workers have allegedly been making fraudulent claims since 2019. — LIm beNG tatt/the Star
BUTTERWORTH: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) swoop on doctors, hospital staff and agents for alleged malpractices is just the tip of the iceberg, with investigations now likely to be expanded to more government agencies, sources say.
“There will be more arrests. We can’t comment more as investigations are ongoing,” said a source, adding that graft busters are hunting for the mastermind.
On Wednesday and Thursday, five doctors and 31 other individuals, including runners, agents and Penang Port employees, were remanded.
They are being investigated under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009 for allegedly submitting false claims.
Three doctors were from Hospital Seberang Jaya, one from Hospital Bukit Mertajam, and one from a private hospital in Butterworth.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a fine of RM10,000 or five times the value of the false claims, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
One of the companies now in the crosshairs of the MACC is Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), where at least 15 workers have allegedly been making fraudulent claims since 2019.
PPSB chief executive officer Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan said the company initiated an internal investigation four weeks ago after it was alerted by the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
“We were aware of the cases but were not notified of their arrests. We leave it to the MACC to conduct the investigation.
“The entire process of the Socso claims was done individually by the workers. As such, we were not aware of the fraudulent claims,” said Sasedharan.
It is believed that the 15 port workers had been given show-cause letters after their arrests by the MACC.
According to a hospital employee who declined to be named, agents would usually camp at the hospital lobby to wait for accident victims and offer to do their claims.
“The agents will get the lion’s share of the amount as they facilitated the entire process, with the doctors, patients, runners and others sharing the rest of the money,” said the source.
This modus operandi is said to have been going on since 2017, with each injury claim application amounting to between RM50,000 and RM100,000.
Another source said Socso officials became suspicious when they noticed an unusually high number of similar claims coming from one company.
Meanwhile, Seberang Jaya assemblyman Izhar Shah Arif Shah said his service centre received information about the difficulties faced by Socso applicants in obtaining their claims.
“It’s regrettable that such situations have occurred and it has affected claimants who genuinely need help,” he said.
Izhar Shah urged the state health department to replace the suspects from Hospital Seberang Jaya and Hospital Bukit Mertajam who were detained.
Penang senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran had reportedly brought up this issue at the Dewan Negara on July 28, when he called on the government, particularly the Human Resources Ministry, to explain the alleged suspension of senior doctors handling Socso disability claims purportedly linked to a cartel in the state.
Dr Lingeshwaran, who was the former director of Hospital Sungai Bakap, said the cartel was believed to be lobbying for the suspended doctors to return to work at the same hospital.
He also claimed that there were 683 fraudulent Socso withdrawals from 2018 to 2022 involving about RM43mil, of which 16 involved a certain doctor whose services were terminated after the activities were exposed.
