He was the first to be arrested for hoarding after rumours before the Budget speech last week that the price of cooking oil would be raised.
A domestic trade ministry official said 765kgs of the cooking oil packed in 1kg polybags and 120kg in 5kg bottles were discovered at a hidden corner and underneath the counter of the shop at Jalan Pandak Mayah.
“The operator failed to give a satisfactory answer on the excessive stocks that he had so we booked him on suspicion of making a false declaration and hoarding cooking oil, which is a controlled item,” said Shamnaziman Mohamed Taulan, head of the ministry’s Langkawi branch.
Businessmen could be fined up to RM1 million or jailed for up to three years’ or both for individual business ownership and RM2 million for companies, if convicted.