Company and director fined RM1.6mil total in 'meat cartel' case

JOHOR BARU: A frozen food supply company and its director implicated in the meat cartel scandal have been fined a total of RM1.6mil after pleading guilty at the Sessions Court here for offences under the Trade Descriptions Act.

The accused, Yong Chee Keong, 42, who represented LY Frozen Food Sdn Bhd, made the plea after 14 charges (seven each for Yong and the company) were read out in front of Sessions Court judge Fatimah Zahari on Wednesday (Feb 22).

Fatimah, in her judgement, ordered the company to pay a fine of RM1.5mil for seven charges the company faced.

She also ordered Yong, in his personal capacity, to pay RM100,000 for seven other charges.

Meanwhile, all seven charges against LY Frozen Food Sdn Bhd store manager Chong Kim Kuang, 50, were dropped as he was only a worker at the company.

Another company director still at large – Tan Siew Huak, 44 – was discharged not amounting to an acquittal.

All the accused were charged on Feb 9, 2021 with using fake trade descriptions with regard to the halal logo of the Islamic Co-ordinating Council of Victoria and Perth Mosque Incorporated on 3,418 boxes containing frozen food.

All were also charged with offering the products for sale using the labels of GBP Australia Pty Ltd and Ararat Meat Exports Pty Ltd with the Australian Halal logo to indicate that the food can be consumed by Muslims, in a manner contrary to Paragraph 4(1) of the Trade Description (Certification and Marking of Halal) Order 2011.

They were also charged with possession of the goods using fake trade descriptions without the approval of GBP Australia Pty Ltd and Ararat Meat Exports Pty Ltd.

All the offences were alleged to have been committed at 663 Jalan Idaman 3/4, Taman Perindustrian Desa Idaman, Senai on Dec 1, 2020, at about 3.30pm.

They were charged under Section 5(1)(a) and Section 5(1)(c) of the Trade Descriptions Act, as well as the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Halal Marking) Order.

The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohd Sophian Zakaria, Kwan Li Sa, Syazwani Zawawi, Mas Syafiqah Maarob and Kee Shu Min while the accused were represented by lawyers Zamri Idrus dan Fadly Hashim.

In 2020, the authorities busted a cartel that had been smuggling meat from Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina and China and repackaging it with fake halal logos.