By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 12: Police have arrested 11 men around Kuching, out of which three suspects are still under investigations for forgery of Covid-19 test reports in which a private clinic was involved.
Eight among the 11 have been released on bail.
Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Sarawak Contingent Chief Superintendent Maria Rasid revealed that the arrests were made following two reports lodged on forgery of rT-PCR test reports for Covid-19 by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Secretariat on March 6 and 8.
“Following the reports, CCID has arrested 11 men around Kuching on March 7 and 12. Police also seized one unit smartphone together with several sim cards belonging to one of the suspects.
“The three suspects arrested today are under police investigations,” she told a press conference on the Covid-19 situation update for Sarawak here today.
On whether a private or public health facility was involved, Maria said: “It involved a private clinic with a fee charged between RM50 to RM100 for the test.”
She did not elaborate further because the cases are still under investigations.
Maria thus stressed that the police viewed this document fraud case seriously as it endangers the health of the public and will take harsh actions against those who have violated the law.
She revealed that investigations are still ongoing under Section 420 of the Penal Code for both reports on the forgery of Covid-19 test reports.
The Section provides for punishments of no less than one year and not more than 10 years, whipping and a fine if convicted.
“Investigation paper will be referred to the Malaysia Deputy Prosecutor Office Sarawak with charges to be recommended in the nearest time after investigations have been completed,” she added.
In reminding that all citizens should have a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the community, Maria strongly advised people against faking Covid-19 test results.
In addition, she also urged health premises or medical laboratories offering Covid-19 screening tests to be responsible and should not forge document of the test results.
“Such irresponsible acts will have serious implications on the health of all Malaysians if an individual is to test positive for Covid-19,” she emphasised.
Maria thus urged the public with information or come across such suspicious activities to report the matter to the Ministry of Health (MOH) so that police reports can be lodged. – DayakDaily
