The Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) has also threatened legal action against the daily.

Presma president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the association would be lodging police reports nationwide and demand a probe against the daily for tarnishing the industry’s image.

“Presma strongly denies the allegations that mamaks run a cartel-like operation by providing capital to entrepreneurs to set up shops.

“Such claims are baseless,” he said in a statement.

Jawahar, however, did not identify the daily.

On May 24, Kosmo! ran an editorial titled “Ramai jadi mangsa kartel mamak” (Many fall victims to the mamak cartel).

In the article, the writer claimed that several mamak restaurant owners ran their business like a cartel by providing funds to others who want to set up eateries.

Jawahar said in reality, restaurant owners worked hard to set up shops on their own.