KUALA LUMPUR: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has seized more than 15,000 pairs of counterfeit goods worth RM400,000 at a wholesale complex near Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman here.
Its Kuala Lumpur director Mohd Sabri Seman said the seizure followed a two-week investigation involving eight storage units and two showrooms used for wholesale operations to retailers nationwide.
"For slippers, the syndicate involved would buy them for as low as RM4 and sell them to retailers for RM20 to RM30.
"For shoes, they would buy them for as little as RM20 and sell them for RM100 to RM120,” he told a press conference here on Wednesday (June 18).
He said a Malaysian man in his early 20s working at the premises was detained to assist in the investigation.
According to Sabri, the syndicate is believed to have been operating for the past two months and also took orders from Sabah and Sarawak.
The case is being investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
So far this year, he said, the ministry has opened 64 cases in Kuala Lumpur involving intellectual property under Ops Jeriji 6.0.
It has seized 30,100 units of goods worth RM1.5mil and arrested 10 suspects under the operation.
"We will continue to intensify enforcement activities on intellectual property, including the Trademark Act 2019, the Trade Descriptions Act 2011 and the Copyright Act 1987, to combat the sale of counterfeit goods,” he said.
Sabri also advised consumers not to support sellers of counterfeit goods and said traders who violate the law risk severe penalties. – Bernama
