KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is focusing on the misappropriation of padi subsidies to farmers who sell to licensed rice mills.
Sources said this was after three mills in Kedah were raided by MACC yesterday.
According to the sources, the modus operandi used by the syndicate was to forge purchases of padi at the mills.
"This involves three parties — the farmer, the mill and a Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) representative who is responsible for ensuring that the amount of padi bought from the farmer is in line with the subsidy that is paid out," said one source.
The syphoning of the subsidy, said the source, happened when the amount of subsidy claimed is not in line with the amount sold to the mill.
"We suspect the receipts were forged as the amount sold to the mill is multiplied so as to tally with the amount of subsidy paid out," he said.
It is understood that the subsidy paid out by the government through Bernas is RM500 for every tonne sold at the mill while the mills pay farmers RM1.25 for each kilogramme.
"This would mean that for every tonne of rice sold to the mills, they receive RM1,250, of which RM500 is government subsidy."
The source added that the amount of rice subsidies the government allocates each year was RM600 million, but it was still too early to calculate how much of that has been syphoned out.
The source said there were also cases detected by MACC of mills mixing local rice into bags of imported rice.
"This is one of the factors which have led to the shortage of local rice... the attitude of some mills which hide away local rice," said the source.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, when contacted, confirmed the raids on the mills.
He said, however, it was still to early to make any conclusions on the matter, adding that at present, it was being investigated under Section 18 of the MACC Act.