Legal

Singapore: Shell MGO bunker heist amount balloons to USD$142 million

Former Shell Eastern Petroleum employees allegedly stole 316,035 mt of MGO between August 2014 to January 2018, show court documents seen by Manifold Times.

Published

8 years ago

December 6, 2018

Admin

The Singapore State Court on Thursday (29 November) continued its hearing of the Shell MGO bunker heist case, from the last session on 18 May, 2018.

Prosecutors reorganised earlier charges and issued fresh counts against several suspects involved in an alleged case of stolen marine gas oil (MGO) from Shell Pulau Bukom refinery at Singapore, according to documents obtained by Manifold Times.

Earlier charges under section 411 with section 109 of the Penal Code against five former employees of Shell Eastern Petroleum, namely Cai Zhi Zhong, Juandi Bin Pungot, Koh Choon Wei, Muzaffar Ali Khan Bin Muhamad Akram, and Tiah Kok Hwee, underwent an amalgamation process to be reorganised into a per month basis.

Latest charges against the above five individuals indicate total misappropriation of 203,423.60 metric tonnes (mt) of MGO worth approximately $94.2 million (Exact: USD$94,204,265.98) from alleged illegal operations since August 2014; significantly up from $25.8 million earlier in May.

The counts under section 408 with section 109 of the Penal Code against three other ex-employees of Shell Eastern Petroleum, namely Abdul Latif Bin Ibrahim, Mohd Ibrahim S/O K Abdul Majid, and Richard Goh, underwent a similar amalgamation process to be reorganised into a per month basis.

The three above suspects allegedly misappropriated 112,611.8 mt of MGO worth about $46.6 million (Exact: $46,623,566.32) from suspected illegal MGO operations since June 2015.

In total, investigations uncovered the nine former employees of Shell Eastern Petroleum misappropriating about 316,035 mt of MGO worth approximately $140.8 million during the period between August 2014 to January 2018.

An additional 10 fresh charges were issued to Alan Tan Cheng Chuan and Ng Hock Teck under section 411 with section 109 of the Penal Code for dishonestly receiving stolen property transferred from Pulau Bukom to the vessel Sentek 26. The latest 10 charges related to alleged misappropriation of 7,122 mt of MGO worth about $3.3 million (Exact: USD$3,283,274.22).

Section 408 states:
Whoever, being a clerk or servant, or employed as a clerk or servant, and being in any manner entrusted in such capacity with property, or with any dominion over property, commits criminal breach of trust in respect of that property, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 15 years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Section 411 states:
Whoever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen property, knowing or having reason to believe the property to be stolen property, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years, or with fine, or with both. A person convicted of an offence under this section shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Section 109 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) states:
Whoever abets any offence shall, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, and no express provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such abetment, be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.

In detail, the updated charges to the following individuals are below:

Name	Charge no.	Quantity of MGO (MT)	Amount (USD)	Date
Cai Zhi Zhong Juandi Bin Pungot Koh Choon Wei Muzaffar Ali Khan Bin Muhamad Akram Tiah Kok Hwee Fomerly employed by Shell Eastern Petroleum	1	2,807.8	$1,691,057.59	1 to 7 Jan 2018
	2	8,481.5	$4,776,486.03	1 to 31 Dec 2017
	3	12,128.3	$6,583,138.88	1 to 30 Nov 2017
	4	8,595.1	$4,375,418.51	1 to 31 Oct 2017
	5	7,789.8	$3,960,317.64	1 to 30 Sep 2017
	6	9,531.2	$4,453,676.86	1 to 31 Aug 2017
	7	7,320.3	$3,337,872.49	1 to 31 Jul 2017
	8	10,004.0	$4,284,950.25	1 to 30 Jun 2017
	9	6,354.7	$2,887,786.51	1 to 31 May 2017
	10	9,746.6	$4,702,343.27	1 to 30 Apr 2017
	11	7,597.2	$3,561,757.92	1 to 31 Mar 2017
	12	7,086.9	$3,521,454.80	1 to 28 Feb 2017
	13	3,874.4	$1,876,541.73	1 to 31 Jan 2017
	14	1,575.8	$734,538.66	1 to 31 Dec 2016
	15	5,425.5	$2,301,861.14	1 to 30 Nov 2016
	16	4,645.5	$2,115,363.96	1 to 31 Oct 2016
	17	5,235.6	$2,118,911.72	1 to 30 Sep 2016
	18	3,243.8	$1,281,636.44	1 to 31 Aug 2016
	19	6,483.3	$2,616,562.80	1 to 31 Jul 2016
	20	7,638.5	$3,311,827.08	1 to 30 Jun 2016
	21	4,811.9	$1,965,025.18	1 to 31 May 2016
	22	7,797.1	$2,782,824.06	1 to 30 Apr 2016
	23	4,077.4	$1,373,382.38	1 to 31 Mar 2016
	24	5,515.0	$1,545,841.89	1 to 29 Feb 2016
	25	8,211.6	$2,174,952.51	1 to 31 Jan 2016
	26	6,093.9	$2,134,558.68	1 to 31 Dec 2015
	27	3,701.0	$1,595,347.93	1 to 30 Nov 2015
	28	2,557.7	$1,125,497.35	1 to 31 Oct 2015
	29	695.2	$306,117.32	1 to 30 Sep 2015
	30	1,794.2	$858,593.35	1 to 31 Jul 2015
	31	1,245.7	$688,833.33	1 to 30 Jun 2015
	32	612.4	$355,481.10	1 to 31 May 2015
	33	1,831.6	$985,319.98	1 to 30 April 2015
	34	4,020.8	$2,115,277.19	1 to 31 Mar 2015
	35	5,818.0	$3,067,602.90	1 to 28 Feb 2015
	36	1,720.9	$799,326.95	1 to 31 Jan 2015
	37	1,256.6	$721,650.65	1 to 31 Dec 2014
	38	571.9	$425,610.02	1 to 31 Oct 2014
	39	2,929.9	$2,438,132.93	1 to 30 Sep 2014
	40	2,595.0	$2,251,386.00	1 to 31 Aug 2014


Name	Charge no.	Quantity of MGO (MT)	Amount (USD)	Date
Abdul Latif Bin Ibrahim Mohd Ibrahim S/O K Abdul Majid Richard Goh Formerly employed by Shell Eastern Petroleum	1	1,359.20	$816,022.90	5 Jan 2018
	2	4,037.20	$2,256,673.68	1 to 31 Dec 2017
	3	5,240.40	$2,818,811.16	1 to 30 Nov 2017
	4	4,157.20	$2,102,659.21	1 to 31 Oct 2017
	5	5,191.70	$2,607,775.56	1 to 30 Sep 2017
	6	1,473	$681,056.28	1 to 31 Aug 2017
	7	3,733.50	$1,793,590.34	1 to 30 Apr 2017
	8	3,850.40	$1,795,903.57	1 to 31 Mar 2017
	9	3,403.30	$1,688,963.25	1 to 28 Feb 2017
	10	3,695.20	$1,784,818.55	1 to 31 Jan 2017
	11	3,724.50	$1,723,352.29	1 to 31 Dec 2016
	12	4,631.40	$1,959,012.90	1 to 30 Nov 2016
	13	5818.00	$2,639,510.66	1 to 31 Oct 2016
	14	5253.60	$2,121,303.45	1 to 30 Sep 2016
	15	2174.10	$858,982.17	1 to 31 Aug 2016
	16	5235.40	$2,106,666.17	1 to 31 Jul 2016
	17	4471.70	$1,936,431,53	1 to 30 Jun 2016
	18	5932.60	$2,416,934.72	1 to 31 May 2016
	19	3720.40	$1,323,666.88	1 to Apr 2016
	20	3828.00	$1,285,085.79	1 to 31 Mar 2016
	21	2779.80	$776,343,66	1 to 29 Feb 2016
	22	2736.00	$720,018.39	1 to 31 Jan 2016
	23	4281.60	$1,485,439.06	1 to 31 Dec 2015
	24	4646.10	$1,984,804.43	1 to 30 Nov 2015
	25	3101.00	$1,354,454.78	1 to 31 Oct 2015
	26	5628.40	$2,444,278.19	1 to 30 Sep 2015
	27	4299.10	$1,792,896.66	1 to 31 Aug 2015
	28	3427.70	$1,630,145.57	1 to 31 Jul 2015
	29	781.30	$430,739.71	1 to 30 Jun 2015


Name	Charge no.	Quantity of MGO (MT)	Amount (USD)	Date
Alan Tan Cheng Chuan Ng Hock Teck Dishonestly receive stolen property transferred from Pulau Bukom to the vessel Sentek 26	8	724.10	$308,379.71	14 Jun 2017
	9	768.60	$372,331.37	4 Jun 2017
	10	577.10	$276,730.99	9 Apr 2017
	11	694.70	$324,021.97	18 Mar 2017
	12	838.30	$390,999.89	8 Mar 2017
	13	768.80	$371,338.09	28 Jan 2017
	14	722.40	$348,926.42	20 Jan 2017
	15	598.70	$277,009.67	11 Dec 2016
	16	736.20	$333,682.65	17 Oct 2016
	17	693.10	$279,853.46	23 Sep 2016

Readers who need to refresh their memory can refer to the following links below:

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 6 December, 2018

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Published

12 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July).

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions.

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

12 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Liquidator of Nan Shan Maritime Pte Ltd issues notice of dividend

Third interim dividend to admitted unsecured claims of Nan Shan Maritime is payable from 15 July, according to Government Gazette notice.

Published

5 days ago

July 16, 2026

Admin

A notice of dividend for Nan Shan Maritime Pte Ltd, which is currently in creditors’ voluntary liquidation, was published on the Government Gazette on Wednesday (15 July).

The following are the details of the notice:

Name of Company : Nan Shan Maritime (Pte.) Ltd.(In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 201701967H
Address of Registered Office : 10 Anson Road, #10-10, International Plaza, Singapore 079903
Amount per centum : 5.00 Per Centum of all admitted unsecured, claims
First and Final or Otherwise : Third Interim
When Payable : 15 July 2026
Where Payable : Entitlements will be made by way of cheque.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 16 July, 2026