Sibu MP urges tightening of unclaimed money withdrawal process
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) needs to tighten the process of claiming unclaimed money to prevent unauthorised withdrawals, said Sibu MP Oscar Ling.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, he said that a retiree, Lau Kah Lee, had discovered RM116,000 belonging to his late mother, who passed in 2008, had gone missing from the unclaimed money accounts.
He said Lau had in December last year submitted the relevant documents to claim the money at the Accountant-General’s Department counter here, but was told that the money was no longer there.
“A police report was lodged on Jan 12 and an investigation is now underway. We suspect there is a syndicate targeting those with substantial amounts in their unclaimed money accounts,” he told reporters.
Ling said upon checking with the MoF, he was told that there had been three such cases reported in Sibu since last year.
“This is quite serious. They are looking into it because it involves falsifying the documents of various departments including the district office, National Registration Department, and even the Accountant-General’s Department.
“We believe there could be more of such cases going unreported,” he said, adding MoF is now revising its standard operating procedure in regard to the withdrawal procedure.
He also called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe any possible involvement of civil servants who may have facilitated these unauthorised withdrawals by falsifying documents.
Ling said under the current procedure, once the unclaimed money is returned, a message ‘Tuntutan sudah dilaksanakan’ (claim has been made) would be displayed in the owner’s account in the eGumis portal https:// egumis.anm.gov.my/.
However in Lau’s case, the MP said there was no such message.
Meanwhile, Lau, who was also present at the press conference, said his mother’s unclaimed money comprised her savings and dividends.