RM1.6mil fine for using fake halal logo

Legal penalty: Yong (right) was fined RM100,000 while charges against Chong (centre) were dropped. The company, LY Frozen Food Sdn Bhd, was also fined RM1.5mil. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

JOHOR BARU: A frozen food supply company and its director have been fined RM1.6mil after pleading guilty at the Sessions Court here to an offence committed three years ago under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011.

Yong Chee Keong, 42, who represented LY Frozen Food Sdn Bhd, made the plea after the 14 charges were read to him in front of Sessions judge Fatimah Zahari yesterday.

In her judgement, Fatimah ordered Yong to pay a fine of RM1.5mil for seven charges levied against the company.

Yong was also ordered to pay RM100,000 for the other seven charges, with failure to do so resulting in imprisonment of six months.

All seven charges against LY Frozen Food Sdn Bhd store manager Chong Kim Kuang, 50, had been dropped due to his status of only being a worker at the company.

As for the company’s other director who is still at large, Tan Siew Huak, 44, the court decided to discharge without acquitting the accused.

According to the charge sheets, on Feb 9, 2021, all of the accused were charged with using fake trade descriptions with regard to the halal logo of the Islamic Coordinating Council of Victoria and Perth Mosque Incorporated on 3,418 boxes of frozen food.

All of them 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 Descriptions (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 and Ararat Meat Exports.

All the offences were committed at No. 663 Jalan Idaman 3/4 Taman Perindustrian Desa Idaman, Senai, in the Kulai district on Dec 1, 2020.

They were charged under Section 5(1)(a) and Section 5(1)(c) of the Trade Descriptions Act 2011, as well as the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Halal Marking) Order 2011.

If convicted, they can be fined not more than RM100,000, or jailed for not more than three years, or both.