PUTRAJAYA: A subsidised cooking oil misappropriation syndicate was crippled through a series of operations, known as Ops Tiris 3.0, with cooking oil subsidy leaks estimated to be RM20mil.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry enforcement director Datuk Azman Adam said the irregularities were linked to three subsidised cooking oil packaging companies in Perak, and wholesale companies in Johor and Selangor.
“The misappropriation chain began with a subsidised cooking oil refinery in Ipoh 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.
“But 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,” he told a press conference yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the wholesale companies in Selangor and Johor then bottled the subsidised cooking oil and sold it in the market at the price of non-subsidised bottled cooking oil.
The operation led to the arrest of two locals, aged 20 and 30, who were employees of a Johor-based company.
