BR1M shocker for retiree

9

Retired mechanic accused of cashing BR1M voucher twice, told to return RM500 he did not cashSIBU: For an elderly BR1M recipient Lo Kim Chuan here, the joy of receiving the RM500 turned into a nightmare as he was accused of receiving the cash aid twice and asked to return the ‘extra’ money or face court action.

Shell-shocked 80-year-old retired mechanic in relating to The Borneo Post yesterday, said he received a letter from Kuala Lumpur about a forthnight ago, demanding him to return the ‘extra aid’ that he had received within 21 days or risked facing actions.

What was even more shocking was the fact that the system indicated that he had cashed the BR1M vouchers at two different local banks here, he said.

“I felt my hands trembling after going through the content of the letter. In all honesty, I have never received the cash aid twice as alleged (in the letter). There must besome mistake somewhere.

“Fearing more trouble, I quickly went to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) office here to seek clarification and showed them the letter. Initially, I was asked to check online but I don’t know how to use the Internet.

“So, they assisted me, and the strings of findings that unfolded were beyond my comprehension.

“You see, according to them, the system record showed that I had cashed the vouchers twice at two different local banks.

“The truth is when I received my BR1M voucher, I had cashed it at a Maybank branch here. To set the record straight, I received the cash aid only once,” he asserted, shaking his head in disbelief.

“So, where in the world could I have obtained another voucher, and cashed it elsewhere?” the disgruntled Lo asked, adding “it is most absurd to say that I had collected the money twice.”

Strongly refuting the allegation, Lo was dumbfounded as to how his name and MyKad number could have been used to cash the voucher for the second time, without arousing suspicions from the parties concerned.

OCPD: Recipients should lodge police report if they suspect their names have been misused

“This is really weird and shouldn’t people have to furnish their MyKad when cashing the voucher?” he asked.

Acting on the advice of IRB office here, he lodged a police report.

He claimed that he had also enclosed photocopies of the police report and relevant documents to IRB for follow-up actions.

The incident may be a tip of the iceberg as words from the grapevine had it that there were others, who suffered similar fate as Lo here.

Sibu police chief ACP Shafie Ismail when contacted on the case said they were carrying out investigation on the allegation on the abuse of BR1M vouchers.

“People or recipients of BR1M are advised to lodge police reports if they suspected that their names had been misused by unscrupulous individuals to cash BR1M vouchers,” Shafie advised.

A political secretary to the Chief Minister Andrew Shilling, meanwhile, said all the appeals for BR1M at his end had been settled.

“All of them had received their cash aid except for those whose family members had obtained theirs earlier,” explained Shilling.

Asked if he had received reports on BR1M recipients being asked to return their money on the ground they had collected the cash aid twice, he replied in the negative.

Meanwhile, a retired teacher in her 80’s in Kuching told the Borneo Post that she was puzzled and disappointed that she was deemed ineligible to receive the aid.

She was upset that a pensioner drawing only about RM1000 month was considered not eligible to receive BR1M aid while others much younger and earning more were given the RM500 aid.

However, she got a bigger shock when she enquired at the IRB office in Kuching as she was told someone had already collected her BR1M aid.

She asked how was it possible for anyone to collect her voucher without her identity card.

Suspecting abuse in the dispensing of BRIM aid, the pensioner is now contemplating making a police report over the fraudulent withdrawal of her BR1M voucher.