A former finance officer of a private company has been arrested by MACC over false claims totalling RM720,000

MACC arrests ex-company finance officer and civil servant for fraud

JOHOR BARU: A former finance officer of a private company has been arrested over false claims totalling RM720,000 involving the manufacture of chemicals.

The 33-year-old suspect submitted the claims at the company in Senai despite the orders being already completed between 2014 and last year.

Part of the payments for the false claims also went to the companies that had done the work previously, said sources close to the case.

The man was arrested after giving a statement at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office at about 1pm yesterday.

According to the sources, he had opened a company bank account and had deposited the payments from the false claims into it.

The MACC has tracked down RM430,000 of the amount and believe that the rest has been squirrel­ed away by the suspect, said the sources.

The arrest came within days of the anti-graft agency nabbing a 53-year-old administrative assistant at a district health office over false claims totalling RM109,930.

Sources said the claims involved purchase orders for several district health clinics.

The administrative assistant, who had opted for early retirement and was due to leave her job next month, had been a civil servant for more than 20 years.

She was arrested in Batu Pahat.

The sources said that she had collaborated with a contractor friend who allowed her to use his licence to submit the false claims.

More than RM93,000 from the claims was then banked into her account while the balance went to the friend, according to the sources.

Johor MACC director Datuk Azmi Alias declined to give details of both cases, except to say that the former finance officer would be remanded today.

Previously, he had warned that the MACC was keeping a close watch on government staff involved in revenue generation in the state, including those in land offices, forestry departments and local-government agencies.

The MACC arrested 127 people last year while 108 were nabbed in 2015.

Anyone with information on corrupt practices can contact the MACC at 1800-88-6000, 07-231 6000 or 07-231 6080.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/02/17/two-nabbed-over-false-claims-macc-arrests-excompany-finance-officer-and-civil-servant-for-fraud/#9GfiXTsSUegwRHpx.99