BR1M FRAUD BID FOILED

THE have been attempts by individuals to cash the RM500 BR1M aid through fraudulent means, however, they had to leave empty-handed when the banks found that these vouchers did not conform to the guidelines.

Some recipients also questioned why they were required to wait for the money to be disbursed by the elected representatives, instead of by the District Office.

A branch officer of a bank confirmed she had come across fake vouchers and some even without the names written on the voucher since the vouchers were first distributed.

"Even so there have been no mistakes done by our bank to date. My only fear is there could be double vouchers and double identity claiming for the cash aid," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

She said in the latest incident Tuesday, a man tried to cash out the BR1M voucher. Upon checking its authenticity, the bank clerk found that the voucher had no name written on it.

Questioned by the bank, the man said he received the voucher from an office in Wisma Kosan in Likas and was told to cash it at the said bank.

Fearing it could be fraudulent the clerk advised the man to cash his voucher from his polling district in Papar.

"Even if the man had his name written on it, there are other security guidelines known only by our bank to avoid such incidents. These were created in a meeting between parliamentary areas, district offices and our bank's representatives," she said.

"There was need to set up the guideline, despite the voucher itself having its own security features. And it differs from bank to bank É they may have set up their own guidelines," she said.

She said basically, to cash out the voucher, bank clerks need to scan the security barcode and cross-check the serial numbers. Both features are imprinted on every voucher.

Besides, the recipient's name must be hand-written on the voucher together with the identity card number. And the MyKad must be provided to the clerk.

"The recipient's name and identity card number are written on the voucher when collected from the respective district offices. While, for senior citizens, a letter must be issued by the district office to allow their representative to collect the cash aid," she said.

Meanwhile, Daily Express received two complaints by recipients in Tanjung Aru questioning why they have been asked to get the money from Member of Parliament, Datuk Marcus Mojigoh.

"I really need the money and checked my application three days before the Chinese New Year where I was told that it had been approved but sent to the Member of Parliament's office which is in Putatan," said one of them.

"I was told that he would be handing out the vouchers to the successful applicants but don't know when.

"I am left wondering why we have been placed at the mercy of these politicians to give it when it is convenient for them to do so.

If the money is coming from their pocket I do not mind but in this case they have no right to keep our money because it does not belong to them."

The other recipient also in the same predicament said since it was already approved by the government, why not the recipients just go and collect it from the District Office instead of from the politicians. (DAILY EXPRESS)