Penang KPDN Seizes Goods Worth RM3.31 Mln Last Year

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) seized goods worth RM3.31 million in Penang last year.  

State KPDN director S.Jegan said the goods were confiscated during statewide inspections on 52,473 business premises.

“Throughout last year, we recorded seizures worth RM3.31 million involving 724 cases under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act (AKHAP) 2011, the Consumer Protection Act (APP) 1999, and the Weights and Measures Act 1972, among others.

“Penang KPDN also issued compounds totalling RM385,450 against traders for various offences during the same period,” he told reporters today at the Penang KPDN storage complex in Bukit Minyak, here.

He attributed the success of these operations to the public who consistently provided information on violations among traders.

Meanwhile, Jegan said their monitoring found that the prices of coconuts, coconut milk, and grated coconut across the state remain under control and stable despite an increase in coconut prices.

He said the rise in prices of coconuts from Indonesia was due to high demand from Thailand, which has led to higher prices in Penang, adding that coconuts are priced at RM2.29 each at the importer level.

In a related development, Jegan said 572 units of fake electrical appliances worth RM27,279 were seized following today’s raid on a warehouse in Jalan Rozan.  

He said the 11.30 am operation was conducted following a complaint from a representative of a registered trademark owner, who suspected that the premises were selling counterfeit goods.

According to him, 14 types of fake electrical goods were found, including blenders, hairdryers, hair straighteners, razors, and electric toothbrushes.

"These goods are suspected of using trademarks unlawfully under the Trademarks Act 2019 (Act 815), and during the operation, we also detained a woman in her mid-40s to assist in the investigation into the sale of these counterfeit items," he said.

He said probes revealed that the woman is an employee at the warehouse, responsible for managing the counterfeit goods and coordinating their delivery to buyers via couriers.

Jegan said the investigation also found that the fake items belonged to a Chinese national, adding that the man is believed to have been renting the warehouse for the past six months to store and sell the items in the Malaysian market.

He added the woman claimed that she communicated with her employer online and had never met the man. 

"The investigation also found that all the counterfeit electrical goods were being sold through the social media platform TikTok, at prices 50 per cent lower than the genuine items. However, according to the detained woman, the sales and promotions were handled by her employer,” he said, adding that efforts to track down the woman’s employer are ongoing.

The operation is part of the Kita Gempur initiative, which was launched on Oct 19 last year to combat fraud and counterfeit goods manipulation.

-- BERNAMA