BUTTERWORTH: The Penang branch of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has foiled an attempt by a wholesaler to misappropriate subsidised cooking oil and sell it for a profit through a raid on a Taman Seri Murni house here.
State Ministry enforcement chief A. Mogan said that a team of four enforcement officers managed to uncover the irregularities after conducting intelligence over the past five days based on a public tip-off, before raiding the double-storey terrace house at 1pm on Tuesday (July 12).
The preliminary inspection also found that the man also sold the subsidised cooking oil mixed with dyes and fragrances to the public for prayer use.
"A team of four enforcement officers followed a lorry driven by a man from a subsidised cooking oil packet wholesaler to the house in Taman Seri Murni," said Mogan.
"During the raid, the lorry was parked at the back of the terrace house and a local man in his 50s, was at the cargo section of the vehicle in the midst of transferring subsidised cooking oil into barrels,” he added when speaking to reporters at the scene.
Mogan said that an inspection of the lorry found 272 kilogrammes (kg) of subsidised cooking oil (in packets) and 952 kg of subsidised cooking oil that had been transferred into industrial barrels.
The team also found 340 kg of subsidised cooking oil packets stored in a room in the house, which was believed to be used as a place for the man to transfer the subsidised cooking oil to industrial barrels.
Further investigation found that the man had a wholesale licence for controlled goods, with permission for him to obtain cooking oil from the cooking oil packaging place and subsequently send it directly to customers.
"However, he has misused the licence and misappropriated controlled items before selling them to the industry, because he was able to make a more lucrative profit,” he said, adding that further investigations are underway.
Mogan said that each 1kg packet of subsidised cooking oil cost RM2.50 and the man sold it to the industry and the public at RM6 to RM8 each.
The man was also believed to have been carrying out these activities for the past few months, and had been more active since July 1 following the end of subsidies for cooking oil in bottles of two, three and five kg.
"We seized a total of 1,564 kg of subsidised cooking oil, worth RM3,910, and we also seized the lorry worth RM105,000. The man was detained for investigation under the Control of Supplies Act 1951, and the case will be investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001,” he said. - Bernama
