Wholesaler caught for siphoning 1.6mil kg of cooking oil

 

Kuala Lumpur domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry chief enforcement officer Nurul Syarina Md Anuar (right) with a sample of the cooking oil seized. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: A cooking oil wholesaler’s premises in Bandar Tun Razak here was raided after it was suspected of siphoning and hoarding 1.6 million kg of subsidised cooking oil since April.

Kuala Lumpur domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry (KPDNHEP) chief enforcement officer Nurul Syarina Md Anuar said the raid was carried out at noon yesterday following reports and information received regarding the wholesaler’s activities.

She said the licensed premises had been operating since March and it obtained cooking oil supplies from manufacturers and packers around Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak and Pahang.

The wholesaler was believed to have been supplying the subsidised cooking oil to an unlicensed company in Johor Bahru, Johor.

“It had been selling an estimated 1.6 million kg of cooking oil, with a subsidy value amounting to RM960,000, since April,” she told reporters at a press conference held at KPDNHEP’s store for exhibits here today.

She said KPDNHEP had recorded the statement from the 40-year-old local owner of the wholesale premises and seized related documents for further investigations.

Nurul Syarina said the subsidised cooking oil was also believed to have been exported, causing a shortage of supply in the local market.

She added the case was being investigated under Regulation 9 (2) of the Control of Supplies Regulations 1974 for supplying controlled items, namely cooking oil, to unlicensed parties.

KPDNHEP will monitor and conduct inspections on all cooking oil distribution networks to ensure its uninterrupted supply in the market and to prevent hoarding and misappropriation of subsidised cooking oil by irresponsible parties, she said. - FMT