Penang KPDN Busts Diesel Misappropriation Syndicate Using Fleet Cards

NIBONG TEBAL, May 18 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) successfully crippled a subsidised controlled goods misappropriation syndicate using fleet cards during a raid on a licensed wholesaler’s store here today.

Its Penang director S. Jegan said an integrated Ops Tiris 4.0 operstion was carried out together with the E5 Special Branch of the Penang Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) following intelligence gathering and monitoring conducted over the past three weeks.

“Initial inspections found that the premises were believed to have been used as a location to transfer diesel fuel from prime movers that filled up at nearby petrol stations using the fleet card system through repeated purchases.

“We found 13 fleet cards believed to have been used for diesel misappropriation activities and the syndicate’s modus operandi involved using fleet cards belonging to inactive or damaged lorries to obtain diesel supplies according to the permitted quota before transferring them into tanks at the store,” he told reporters at the raid location here today.

He said the syndicate used prime movers without trailer bodies to repeatedly fill up diesel at nearby petrol stations and each lorry was believed capable of making repeated purchases up to 13 times a day without exceeding the quota set in the fleet card system.

Jegan said inspections at the store uncovered 10,600 litres of diesel in five skid tanks and the original tanks of the prime movers, valued at RM53,000, while the total seizure, including vehicles, pumps and closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, was estimated at RM205,000.

He said seven  men aged between their 50s and 60s, believed to be workers, lorry drivers and the store owner, were also detained to assist investigations, while purchase receipts and business documents were seized.

-- BERNAMA