CodeBlue

CodeBlue is a health news website that reports on issues, policies and trends in healthcare in Malaysia and around the world.

[CodeBlue @codebluenews]

In a next level scheme at Tunku Azizah Hospital (HTA) in KL, a 28-year-old N1 admin assistant (pembantu tadbir or PT) allegedly scammed at least 187 housemen in the paediatric department of the government hospital out of more than RM47,000 over the past two and a half years from Sept 2023 to March 2026.

The female junior PT's alleged con was two-pronged: collecting an RM900 "refund" by falsely claiming that the government "overpaid" emoluments and a “fee” of RM40 to RM45 for a compulsory course, the neonatal resuscitation programme (NRP), that was actually free of charge.

Payments by 187 known victims – all doctors during housemanship postings to HTA’s paediatric department – were either banked into the admin asssistant's personal account or physically paid to her in cash, totalling RM47,210 over the past 30 months.

The 187 people paid the PT either RM45 or RM40 each, except one who paid RM120, under the NRP scam, totalling RM8,210. Forty-two of them were additionally hoodwinked by the salary scam, with 40 housemen getting cheated of RM900 each, one of RM1,200, and another of RM1,800, totalling RM39,000.

Based on CodeBlue’s interviews with a dozen victims this week, most, if not all, of the deceptions and financial transactions in the admin assistant’s alleged criminal fraud occurred in their workplace at HTA.

The junior doctors said they didn’t think much about making payment to the PT’s personal account at the time, citing a heavy clinical work burden and trust in “Kak S*****”, whom they relied heavily on for human resource responsibilities.

“She showed me the QR code and said it was her personal account. I never hesitated and I never doubted because I never thought of being scammed by her since she’s the admin. Whatever she said, I fully trusted her. So I straight away banked it to her," a houseman told CodeBlue.

RM900 Salary Scam: Forged Document

The PT allegedly used a forged document to convince house officers to pay her a "refund" of RM900, supposedly because the government "overpaid" their RM300 monthly Imbuhan Tetap Khidmat Awam allowance.

Her alleged modus operandi (MO) involved setting up one-on-one meetings in her office on Level 6 of HTA with her victims, during which she falsely claimed to junior doctors that the government had “overpaid” their emolument for the first three months of housemanship by RM900. She gave them a form to sign.

The fake document titled “Bayaran Balik Emolumen Terlebih Bayar PPS”, which had the doctor's name and IC number, was actually a forgery of a genuine Gantian Cuti Rehat document.

The PT gave housemen two options to pay the RM900 "refund": by cash in an envelope that they could submit to Unit Gaji themselves or via QR code to her personal account. Her victims all chose to directly bank in the money to her.

RM45 NRP Scam: Housemen Batches on Orientation Day

If the admin assistant's MO for her alleged RM900 salary scam was individual shakedowns during personal meetings in her office, her alleged RM45 NRP hustle defrauded entire groups of house officers during orientation at the MOH hospital.

Being the sole PT in charge of trainee doctors in HTA’s paediatrics department, she conducted briefings alone for housemen on the first day of their posting to the department, without anyone else present in the room.

Housemen were told varying accounts of the RM45 payment for the compulsory NRP course: a fee, or for books or certification, but these were actually free of charge.

Based on CodeBlue’s interviews, the admin assistant wouldn’t let the trainee doctors leave the room until everyone paid her RM45 there and then, either via QR code to her personal account or cash.

End of 30-Month Scam

Two of the PT's victims ended her 30-month scam last March 27, after the house officers went to Unit Gaji and the human resource department and discovered that the RM900 form was a fake document.

At least 13 police reports have been filed.

CodeBlue understands that the admin assistant, who is reportedly a contract staff under the government's MyStep programme, has since been terminated.

When contacted, the PT told CodeBlue that she was “cooperating” to resolve the “financial issues”, adding that she hoped “this issue can be resolved privately and not published in an article”.

In a WhatsApp message to a houseman, the 28-year-old woman claimed that this was the "first time I did something like this" and that her family was in debt with loan sharks.

HTA and MOH Putrajaya declined comment, citing the ongoing police investigation.

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