Oscar Ling
SIBU (June 23): Sibu MP Oscar Ling has called for the establishment of a special task force to conduct a comprehensive investigation into possible organised activities involving the misuse of personal information to fraudulently obtain government fuel subsidies under the Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) petrol scheme.
The call comes after his service centre received a second similar complaint in recent weeks, prompting Ling to urge the police and relevant enforcement agencies to take seriously the misuse of identification card (IC) details to claim and utilise the fuel subsidies.
He said the latest victim only discovered the issue when attempting to use the Budi Madani fuel subsidy and found that the monthly subsidy quota had already been fully utilised.
“Further checks revealed that the subsidy had been used at a petrol station in Sarikei, near here.
“However, the victim had never conducted any transaction at the station, leading to suspicions that the individual’s identity card details had been misused by unauthorised parties.
“What is even more concerning is that, based on the information currently available, such transactions tend to occur between 4am and 5am, with multiple fuel purchases being made within a short period of time,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Ling noted that the recurring pattern of transactions within a fixed timeframe and high frequency suggested that these were not isolated incidents, but part of a coordinated and systematic criminal operation.
The Budi Madani programme was introduced to help ease the cost of living burden, and its mechanism is meant to ensure that government subsidies are channelled to eligible recipients in a targeted manner.
On this, Ling said: “If IC details can be easily misused, victims would not only be deprived of benefits rightfully belonging to them, but significant public funds could also be exposed to abuse.
“This is not merely a case of identity misuse.
“It also involves the potential misappropriation of public funds and therefore warrants the serious attention of both the government and enforcement authorities,” he said.
Ling stressed that as the government would gradually expand its targeted subsidy mechanism, including the incorporation of diesel subsidies, the amount of public funds involved would increase significantly and affect a wider segment of the population.
He cautioned that if weaknesses in the identity verification system could not be addressed promptly, the number of affected individuals would likely to continue rising.
“In light of this, I urge the police to establish a special task force in collaboration with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and other relevant agencies, to carry out a thorough investigation.
“This should include examining transaction records, reviewing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the petrol stations involved, and determining whether organised syndicates are exploiting identity card details to fraudulently claim government subsidies,” he said.
Ling also proposed for the government to review and strengthen existing identity verification mechanisms, including enhancing real-time verification procedures, introducing an early warning system for suspicious transactions and implementing automated reviews of unusually frequent subsidy claims.
He emphasised that any people-centric policy must be supported by an effective monitoring and enforcement framework.
“The government must act swiftly and decisively to curb the misuse of identity information for fraudulent subsidy claims and ensure that public resources are protected and channelled to those who genuinely qualify for assistance.”
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