International tyre manufacturers will help inspect and verify the authenticity of the nearly 18,000 tyres seized in an operation carried out by the Malaysian anti-corruption commission (MACC) earlier this week.
A total of 17,672 tyres were seized during Ops Grip, in which simultaneous raids were made at 23 locations across the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor, with the action being taken on companies suspected of tyre smuggling and falsifying import and export documents. These activities are believed to have cost the government about RM350 million in lost tax revenue since 2020.
The operation was carried out by a multi-agency task force on several companies involved in the tyre import business, and involved raids on warehouses and tyre storage containers. Following the operation, the MACC also froze several individual and company bank accounts valued at an estimated RM70 milion.
An unnamed source told Bernama that the measure to inspect and verify the tyres was to ascertain the status of the tyres. “Initial investigations found that the smuggled tyres consisted of various categories, including new tyres that were not properly declared, used tyres, as well as retreaded tyres that did not meet safety standards,” the source said.
The source added that the smuggling activities had been under close surveillance by the MACC for about six months before the large-scale operation was launched. “Investigations found that the activities involved submitting inaccurate import documents, including false declarations of value, classification, or quality certificates, to reduce the amount of tax payable,” the source revealed.
So far, no arrests have been made, with the investigation by authorities still focused on tracing and seizing other assets suspected to have been obtained through money laundering activities.
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