23/09/2025

TUESDAY | SEPT 23, 2025

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Joint crackdown cripples RM247m diesel theft ring

Decomposed body of missing man found MIRI: A 77-year-old man, who had been missing for more than a week, was found dead in a decomposed state in the Sebubok area, Batu Niah on Sunday night. The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department said in a statement that the body of Chong Nyuk Fan was discovered near his abandoned four-wheel drive vehicle. The department received a report of his disappearance at 9.18pm and firefighters together with police arrived at the scene at 9.44pm. “A search was conducted within a 50-metre radius of the victim’s vehicle, and within 20 minutes the victim was found in a patch of tall grass by the roadside in a decomposed state,” the statement said. According to a police report lodged by the victim’s family, Chong had left his home in the Senadin area on Sept 14 in his four-wheel drive vehicle without informing anyone. A GPS check later revealed that the vehicle had travelled from Miri to Belaga on Sept 14 before heading towards the Batu Niah junction on Sept 17, which was the last recorded location. The vehicle was eventually found abandoned at the roadside, but the victim was missing. – Bernama 75 detained for trespassing into forest reserve KUALA LUMPUR: Seventy-five people were detained during Ops Jejak 2 on Sunday for trespassing into the Ayer Itam Forest Reserve in Puchong without valid permits. Serdang police chief ACP Muhamad Farid Ahmad said they were caught at about 11am by enforcement officers from the Selangor Forestry Department, assisted by the Selangor Tengah forest district office, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and police from the Puchong Jaya station. The area is reserved for research and educational purposes under UPM’s Forestry Division. They were taken to the Serdang district police headquarters before being released on bail by the Forestry Department. Muhamad Farid reminded the public that only Trail 1 – a 2.8km loop approved by the Selangor State Executive Council in 2012 – is open for recreational use. – Bernama

o Company directors with ‘Datuk’ title, senior executives among those implicated in

funds were meant to benefit citizens,” Azam said, adding that penalties and fines could push recoveries into the billions. He said the bust followed real-time financial monitoring that flagged unusual transactions. “We traced the flow of funds, supported by public tip-offs. After extensive monitoring and surveillance, we succeeded in dismantling their activities,” he added. Ops Karen also exposed a customs officer in Port Klang accused of soliciting bribes from a shipping agent to fast-track container clearance. Records and communication devices seized revealed a pattern of illicit payments.

day at the Tanjung Ubi Muslim Cemetery in Sipitang. She had been admitted to the hospital a day earlier after being found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel in Papar at 4am. On Aug 8, the AGC ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem, before announcing on Aug 13 that an inquest would be held into her death. – Bernama protest, he touched and pinched her cheek again. The woman was reportedly traumatised and became afraid to go to work after the incident. Deputy public prosecutor Wan Mohd Ameerul Nazhif Wan Zulfikri prosecuted, while lawyer Nurul Syuhada Mohd Yusof represented the accused. – Bernama Azam stressed that the company was licensed, but abused its privilege to mask large-scale smuggling. The firm and its executives are being investigated under the MACC Act 2009, while the Inland Revenue Board will probe possible tax evasion. The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry is also expected to act against misuse of subsidised fuel. “I believe the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry should blacklist this company,” Azam said, adding that enforcement would be coordinated across agencies. Although not formally registered as a crime syndicate, MACC intelligence links the company to organised criminal groups that smuggled diesel out of Sarawak, particularly from Bintulu. “They even recruited fishermen to help move the fuel into tankers,” Azam revealed. He said the operation was the outcome of months of intelligence gathering, adding that investigators are now reviewing accounts going back 10 years to trace possible money laundering. Azam also revealed that the MATF has seized more than RM1.6 billion in funds and assets since its establishment last year. Of this, RM705.55 million was confiscated in operations targeting corruption and money laundering since 2024. “In the same period, 61 individuals were arrested, including 34 civil servants. “Of these, 25 have been charged in court, while disciplinary action has been taken against another eight,” he said. In 2025, the task force has seized RM960.73 million in funds and assets through a string of high-profile operations nationwide. Azam warned that subsidy theft undermines government finances and directly impacts Malaysians. “Those subsidies belong to the people. When they are stolen, it is the public who suffers” he said.

could far exceed the RM247 million already uncovered. The syndicate, which abused its operating licence by channelling subsidised fuel from Sarawak into the black market, was taken down under Ops Karen, a joint crackdown led by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Multi Agency Task Force (MATF). MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said intermediaries, including fishermen, were roped in to transfer fuel into tankers and avoid detection. Several company directors, some with honorific titles such as Datuk, along with senior executives, are among those implicated. “Misusing subsidies means stealing from the people, since those

illegal activities, says MACC chief

Ű BY HARITH KAMAL newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: A billion-ringgit diesel theft ring that siphoned government subsidies for nearly a decade has been crippled, with investigators warning the true losses

Azam said RM705.55 million has been confiscated in operations targeting corruption and money laundering since 2024. – BERNAMAPIC

AGC reviewing Mohd Shafie’s remarks on Zara case KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) is

to make comments or take actions that could cause confusion or interfere with cases still before the courts. A video clip of a dinner event had earlier gone viral, showing Mohd Shafie questioning the length of the inquest proceedings. Zara Qairina died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu and was buried the same

the review is completed. “The department takes seriously the remarks made by Mohd Shafie during the Jelajah Inspirasi DSSA P187 Kinabatangan event on Sept 20. Such statements risk creating inaccurate perceptions among the public and could disrupt the smooth progress of ongoing court proceedings,” it said. The AGC reminded the public not

reviewing in detail every part of a statement made by Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal regarding the case of Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir. In a statement yesterday, the AGC said it would not hesitate to take firm action under the law, including contempt of court proceedings, once

Elderly man fined RM2,500 for ‘touching and pinching’ woman’s cheek PARIT: A 63-year-old man was fined RM2,500 by the Mag istrate’s Court here yesterday after admitting to outraging a woman’s modesty by touching and pinching her cheek at a grocery store. Magistrate Nurul Izalina Rajaai imposed the fine on Samsuri Kamaruddin, with a default sentence of six months’ jail. He paid the fine. Before handing down the sentence, the magistrate reminded Samsuri that his behaviour was unacceptable. “The court wishes to explain that this (touching the woman) is wrong. It is wrong for you as an adult, a man of senior citizen age. Everyone has acquaintances, but we must maintain boundaries. We should not touch their cheeks, hands or any part of the body. “What you did not only outraged the modesty of the victim but also brought shame to your own family,” she said. Samsuri was charged with using criminal force against a 23-year-old woman with the intent to outrage her modesty at about 4pm in a grocery store at Simpang 4, Bota Kanan on Sept 5. The charge was framed under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum 10 years’ imprisonment or a fine or whipping, or any combination of the sentences upon conviction. According to the facts of the case, the victim was paying at the checkout counter when the accused touched her left cheek twice. Despite her