Agents will do almost all the dirty work

GEORGE TOWN: Kamal (not his real name), 54, has been working for more than 30 years mainly doing maintenance work at a government agency.

Sometime at the end of last year, he suffered a hand injury while operating a machine and sought treatment at a public hospital in Bukit Mertajam.

“I fractured two of my fingers that day. While waiting to see the doctor, a man approached me and asked me how I got injured.

“He then offered to help me claim from Socso for my injuries. I did not have to do anything.

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“After I saw the doctor, I just passed him my identification card and company tag.

“He did the rest for me, including filling in the forms and submitting the claim,” Kamal said, adding that he received compensation for his injury a few months later.

Kamal was among 30 people who were hauled up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recently for allegedly being involved in a Social Security Organisation (Socso) claim scam.

It is reliably learnt that of the 30 suspects questioned, 15 workers had filed fake claims.

“Some of them did not even suffer any injury at all,” said a source.

The source added that after successfully pocketing the claims, some of the suspects boasted to others about how easy it was to make money through the scam, and word spread quickly about its existence.

“They told their friends about how to make ‘easy money’ through this scam. Some even bought new cars, including a luxury MPV, with the ill-gotten gains,” the source said.

According to another source, the modus operandi is similar for all participants – the agents would file the claims on the suspects’ behalf with the help of doctors from government hospitals or a private hospital.

“The agents would promise them they can claim from Socso for their injuries. Even for a minor fracture, the agents would tell the patients it’s worth claiming for it.

“The victims were later introduced to doctors who would issue the medical reports to back their claims.

“In most cases with non-existent injuries, the money would be divided among the cartel members, including the medical practitioners,” said the source.