By: Aida Aziz
MANJUNG: A premises suspected of misappropriating subsidized diesel was raided by the enforcement officers of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDN) Perak in Kampung Baru Lumut on Sunday.
The Director, Datuk Kamalludin Ismail, stated that the operation, conducted at 12:30 noon, was the result of a two-week investigation following the detection of diesel misappropriation through bunkering activities (the distribution of any type of fuel).
He mentioned that the operation received assistance from the police at the Manjung District Police Headquarters (IPD).
“During the raid at the premises, a tanker truck was found transferring liquid suspected to be subsidized diesel onto a tugboat. Preliminary investigations revealed that the tugboat is owned by a company holding a valid retail bunkering license in Manjung, and the tanker truck is owned by an oil supplier company with a valid diesel wholesale license in Selangor.
“Further examination of purchase and sale documents revealed suspicious and allegedly falsified transactions. Discrepancies were found between the transactions and records obtained from the branded oil supplier company,” he said in a statement on Monday.
He added that they believe the syndicate attempted to forge transaction records of diesel sources to deceive authorities through statements and documents that have been seized.
“The statement of industrial-use oil was found to differ from the diesel used by the tugboat as fuel. The subsidized diesel is suspected to have been obtained from subsidized sources, mixed with commercial oil, and collected from various sources such as gas stations, fisherman oil, and others,” he stated.
Kamalludin further mentioned that, through the declaration of stock and submission of documents under Section 8 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 against both companies, an estimated 60,429 litres of liquid suspected to be diesel in the tanker truck and tugboat were seized.
He said the total confiscation is estimated to be worth RM1,761,287. In addition, four local men claiming to be the truck driver, assistant, tugboat supervisor, and company agent were detained for further investigation.
