The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) successfully busted subsidised cooking oil diversion activities in two (2) separate raids in Rawang, Selangor on 2 August 2023.
The raid was carried out by a team of Putrajaya KPDN Power Boosters starting at about 6.00 pm.
This is the result of intelligence carried out several days before the operation was launched. The location of the first raid was at an unnamed premise at the Sri Pagi Sungai Choh Trading Center, Rawang, Selangor.
They found several individuals engaged in the activity of cutting 1kg packets of subsidised cooking oil which were then transferred into a poly tank.
The modus operandi of this syndicate is to buy 1kg packets of subsidised cooking oil, then transfer it to a tank and re-bottle it before selling it according to the latest price of the non-subsidised cooking oil market.
In another separate raid on a premises in the Anugerah Suria Industrial Area, Rawang, Selangor, several individuals were found to be transferring cooking oil into a tanker truck.
Upon further inspection, a number of new cooking oils were discovered, which have been proceeded and suspected to be sold on the market.
The modus operandi of the premises is to hide behind the activity of buying and selling used cooking oil and dealing with controlled goods, which is cooking oil without permission.
As a result of the raid on the two premises, cooking oil with a total amount of 12,000kg were seized, and also some equipment such as motorised pumps, connecting hoses, iron scissors, mobile phones, CCTV decoders and some other business documents that will be used for further investigation purposes. The value of the seizure for these two cases is estimated at RM60,000.
A total of six (6) male local citizens and nine (9) individuals, two (2) of whom are women, non-local citizens have been detained to assist in the investigation.
The investigation papers have been opened and further investigations into this case will be made under the Supply Control Act (AKB) 1961 to identify the individuals/companies involved in this activity as well as to identify the cooking oil distribution chain involved.
KPDN would like to give a stern warning to any relevant individual/company to always comply with the legislation that has been set. Any person who commits an offence may be prosecuted under AKB 1961 and if convicted may be fined not more than RM1,000,000 while for subsequent offences, not exceeding RM3,000,000 for an individual or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both.
For a company to be convicted of an offence, the fine is not more than RM2,000,000 while for subsequent offences, not exceeding RM5,000,000.
