MACC raids factory, companies suspected of involvement in milk powder cartel

New Straits Times

09-07-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers raided a milk processing factory and two companies suspected of being behind a cartel supplying substandard milk powder to a government department.
Investigations have revealed that most of the companies awarded the government tenders to supply the milk powder had no prior involvement in the production, processing or distribution of food and beverages.
Seventy-five bank accounts, comprising 24 individual accounts and 51 company accounts, with a total value of approximately RM174 million have since been frozen.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the raids were a follow-up to information obtained from the investigation into three members of a family on Tuesday.
"The raid on the milk processing factory was aimed at inspecting documents related to the milk powder supply contracts they had secured, including financial documents.
"The raids conducted today are a continuation of the investigation involving the family members, and initial findings also revealed that most of the companies awarded the government tenders to supply the milk powder had no prior involvement in the production, processing, or distribution of food and beverages," he told the New Straits Times.
Azam said the background of these companies includes furniture, electrical, contractor, real estate, transportation, and civil engineering businesses.
"Some of them earned profits of between 10 to 50 percent from supplying the milk powder.
On Tuesday, the MACC Special Operations Division in an operation codenamed Op White and conducted with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), raided three residences and one company in the Kuala Lumpur area.
The company, owned by a husband-wife team, was said to have been supplying milk powder to a government department for decades.
However, the milk powder was believed to have not met Sirim standards.
MACC is also said to be investigating the son of the couple.
Meanwhile, MACC Special Operations Division senior director Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin did not rule out the possibility of a monopoly in the supply of milk powder to government departments.
"So far, statements from six individuals have been recorded.
"The case is being investigated under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009, the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001, and the Income Tax Act 1967," he said.