PUTRAJAYA, Aug 21 — The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) has busted a subsidised cooking oil misappropriation syndicate through Ops Tiris 3.0, with cooking oil subsidy leakages worth about RM20 million.
KPDN enforcement director-general Datuk Azman Adam said the irregularities were linked to three subsidised cooking oil packaging companies in Perak and wholesale firms in Johor and Selangor.
“The misappropriation chain began with a subsidised cooking oil refinery in Ipoh, Perak, which supplied 550 metric tonnes of cooking oil per month to three packaging companies in Perak. After packaging, these companies were supposed to distribute the cooking oil to the registered retailers,” he explained during a press conference today.
“What happened was that these three companies conspired to package only a small portion of the cooking oil they received from the refinery, distributing it to the registered retailers, while the majority of the oil was diverted to wholesale companies in Selangor and Johor,” he added.
He said the wholesale companies in Selangor and Johor then bottled the oil and sold it at non-subsidised prices.
Following that, a raid was conducted on August 9 by the KPDN’s Putrajaya, Perak, Selangor, and Johor offices. The operation led to the arrests of two local men, aged 20 and 30, who were employees of a Johor-based company.
In addition to cooking oil, authorities seized several business documents, including purchase and sales invoices, cooking oil subsidy claim documents under the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme and RM163,000 in cash, as well as various equipment and vehicles used in the illegal activities.
Azman said investigation papers have been opened under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 to identify other people or companies involved in the misappropriation of subsidised cooking oil.
Additionally, all the companies involved are being investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
He said the illegal activity had caused a disruption in the supply of subsidised cooking oil in the local market.
“As a firm measure, the ministry has decided to suspend the quotas of the three packaging companies involved to immediately stop the leakage and prevent further losses to the government,” he added.
— Bernama
