Ministry sec-gen says ‘not a suspect’ in cooking oil graft probe
16/04/2023 (Malay Mail), Kuala Lumpur - The secretary-general of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) has clarified that he is not a suspect in the ongoing investigations into the alleged overspending on cooking oil subsidies last year.
Datuk Azman Mohd Yusof said he was merely called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to explain how the process related to the distribution of the cooking oil worked.
Azman said he gave his statement last year and had followed all due processes in accordance with the law.
“There were no decisions made to be considered as unlawful as it followed the due process under the law,” Azman was quoted saying in Free Malaysia Today.
Azman, who is also the Perlis state secretary, was called in for questioning because there was an additional RM9 million allocated for the subsidies to over 20 companies even though the quota had finished, which Azman had approved.
He said he was asked to explain why the ministry had spent more on cooking oil subsidies to the extent an official investigation had to be conducted.
The issue of cooking oil subsidies became a hot topic after former Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s son was charged in the Sessions Court with nine counts of violations in relation to the federal government’s list of controlled goods.
Muhammad Faisal Hamzah and Azizul Abdul Halim, both directors of Rimba Merpati Sdn Bhd — a wholesale cooking oil licence holder — were charged with allegedly providing false information by producing fake invoices on the purported sale of subsidised cooking oil to a local retail company.