IPOH: Three cooking oil packaging companies were fined a total of RM264,000 by the Sessions Court here on Thursday (April 16) after pleading guilty to 24 charges of providing false information related to invoices for the sale of the controlled item two years ago.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad imposed a fine of RM11,000 for each charge after the directors of the three companies entered their pleas immediately after all charges were read out separately.
The companies involved were Usaha Prasarana Sdn Bhd, represented by its director Ooi Yien Wei, 29, Arcadia Odyssey Sdn Bhd, represented by Kan Shy Ling, 32, and Aksi Sentral Sdn Bhd, represented by Kan Cheng Hui, 31.
According to the charges, the three companies, each facing eight charges, had submitted false information under Section 8 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 in relation to invoices for the sale of cooking oil to several trading companies.
The offences were allegedly committed at the respective company premises in Lapangan Setia, Lang Indah Business Centre and Jelapang Trade Centre here between 11.45am and 4.30pm on Aug 9, 2024.
The charges were framed under Subsection 8(4)(b) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and punishable under Section 22(2) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM2 million for corporate bodies, and not exceeding RM5 million for a second offence, upon conviction.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Nazreen Zabarudin and Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry prosecuting officer Muhamad Hanif Abd Azis, while all the accused were represented by lawyer Mohd Khairul Fairuz.
In mitigation, Mohd Khairul pleaded for a fine of RM11,000, citing that it was a first offence and that the companies' cooking oil quotas had been revoked by the government following the case. He also said the companies had cooperated fully during investigations and their guilty pleas had saved the court's time.
He added that a representation filed earlier had agreed to the fine amount, and for seized items such as machinery and packaging equipment to be returned to the companies.
Mohamad Nazreen urged the court to consider public interest in sentencing and informed that the prosecution agreed with the representation, including the fine, forfeiture value to the government and the return of movable seized items and documents to their rightful owners.
The court subsequently imposed a fine of RM11,000 for each charge on the three companies, with proceeds from the sale of seized goods amounting to RM101,807.30 forfeited to the government, while seized items other than documents were returned to their original owners.
Based on the case facts, on Aug 9, 2024, the Perak enforcement office of the ministry conducted an Ops Tiris inspection involving subsidised controlled goods, namely cooking oil, at the three premises.
During the inspection, the companies failed to maintain stock records for controlled goods, and investigations later found that invoices related to cooking oil transactions were falsified as the actual transactions did not take place.
As a result, 51,507.15kg of cooking oil worth RM101,807.30 were seized and action was taken.
Previously, the media reported that the ministry had busted a syndicate involved in misappropriating subsidised cooking oil through Op Tiris 3.0 in a series of raids in Perak, Selangor and Johor on Aug 9, 2024.
The ministry’s enforcement director-general Datuk Azman Adam was reported to have said the raids were carried out following months of intelligence gathering on three companies in the three states, involving subsidy leakages amounting to RM20mil. - Bernama
