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BP Singapore bunker trial: Pacific Prime Trading Director undergoes cross examination

Koh Seng Lee was subject to questioning by lawyers representing Clarence Chang and CPIB at the State Courts of Singapore on Thursday (11 April).

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Manifold Times was present at the BP Singapore bunker trial on Thursday (11 April). The following report represents a brief extract of the day’s trial focusing on the cross examination of Pacific Prime Trading director Koh Seng Lee.

The BP Singapore bunker trial continued on Thursday (11 April) at the State Courts of Singapore after an eight-month intermission; this time focusing on the cross examination of Koh Seng Lee, the sole shareholder and executive director of Pacific Prime Trading (PPT).

PPT was formerly a sole supplier of marine fuel for BP Singapore; Koh and Fennie Ong, the wife of former BP Singapore Regional Marine Manager Clarence Chang, were also directors and equal shareholders of pre-school Mindchamps City Square.

Koh is facing 20 charges; he is accused of corruptly offering a $500,000 bribe to Chang in the form of a $500,000 funds transfer to Mindchamps City Square over a period of six months from Sept 17, 2009.

He is also alleged to have offered bribes amounting to US$3.95 million to Chang over 19 occasions for advancing the business interests of PPT with BP. Chang, meanwhile, faces 20 mirror charges of corruptly receiving the bribes from Koh.

Cross examination by Andre Maniam, Senior Counsel at WongPartnership (defence counsel of Clarence Chang):

A portion, amongst others, of Maniam’s cross-examination of Koh revolved around him not revealing to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) the existence of a joint investment between him and Chang when first interviewed by the Investigation Officer (IO).

Koh and Chang allegedly conducted joint investments on other properties using monies from Koh’s offshore firms Max Fortune and Dynamic Trade, in addition to Mindchamps City Square.

“At that time I was called to be at the CPIB the IO told me I was there to help in the investigation. It was not that they were investigating me,” claimed Koh through a translator who later added, “so I thought I will not have to disclose to the IO about my personal investment.”

Koh, who spoke in Mandarin, later revealed to the IO his joint investment with Chang during follow-up interviews with the CPIB in 2015 and 2017.

“Yes, because I was being called back again, so that time, I thought I will have to be frank with them about it, and tell them the money was for investment,” he said.

“This money is for me to set aside therefore I felt it was not necessary at that time. I think there was nothing wrong about it as this was between me and Clarence [Chang] and it has nothing to do with BP. Since the investigation was not against me therefore there was nothing to tell.”

Koh said he later decided to be frank with the IO in the 2015 and 2017 interviews.

He said: “This matter has been dragging for three to four years […] I want to tell them honestly what the money was for. I told them it was for my personal investment and I told the IO honestly.”

Maniam later confirmed a sum of money given by Koh to Chang on 26 July 2010 had nothing to do with the purpose of keeping the business relationship between BP and PPT intact, as Chang had already left BP as an employee earlier on 9 July 2010.

“Yes, that is right it has nothing to do with that at all,” said Koh.

Cross examination by Loh Hui-Min, Deputy Public Prosecutor (CPIB):

Loh sought to obtain more information from Koh regarding his joint investment with Chang on properties and the Mindchamps City Square kindergarten.

Koh, who only knew his share, told the court he was unsure of the total sum of monies in the investment pool and usually left investment decisions to Chang.

“Although I have a fair amount of experience in property, this also applies to Clarence [Chang]. However, his boss Quek Chin Thean in invests a lot of property and he is also very successful. So if Clarence [Chang] also follows his boss to invest, I believe he will also be very successful,” he told the court.

Loh confirmed Koh was not given any documentation of the properties Chang purchased; there was also no discussion of returns on investment nor sharing of profits.

“For the properties, it depends on the market. If the market is good, you can make profit in between three to six months […] but when market is bad you can wait for eight to ten years,” explained Koh.

“For properties, they were under his [Chang’s] name. The arrangement was I came out with cash and he borrowed from banks. When he borrowed from banks, there will be interest so after the property is sold, there will be some cost. For example, if property is sold for $2 million, he will be entitled to $1.2 million. I think it is ok. I don’t think it is a big problem.”

Koh explained he was fine with a smaller share of the profit as Chang has to be further paid for redevelopment and his own personal time spent on supervising renovation projects.

Koh found nothing wrong with Chang and his family staying at one of the properties bought without paying rent.

“The property is not sold yet so the account is not worked out yet. What I meant was we used his name and the wife’s name to borrow money from the bank so it is nothing wrong for them to stay in the property,” he said.

Loh moved onto question Koh’s claim of only being able to understand simple English and asked about several handwritten amendments made to his CPIB statement.

“I got help from the IO on which words to use and how to spell the words. All the words written here and signed were by me but it was the IO who helped me,” said Koh through a translator.

Koh further claimed the IO could not speak in Mandarin so he had “no choice” but to write his statement in English.

He said: “At that time I also asked the IO if I can write in Chinese and the IO said ‘It is better to write in English; otherwise it has to be translated.’ This was how the IO answered me.”

The next hearing is scheduled on Tuesday (16 April).

Related: BP Singapore bunker trial: Prosecution and Defence present submissions (Part 2)
RelatedBP Singapore bunker trial: Prosecution and Defence present submissions (Part 1)
RelatedBP Singapore bunker bribery case update: BP bunker trade data in question
RelatedBP Singapore bunker bribery case update: CPIB officer takes to the stand
RelatedUPDATE: BP Singapore bunker bribery case
RelatedBP Singapore bunker bribery case continues

Photo credit: Chensiyuan / CC BY-SA 4.0
Published: 15 April, 2019
 

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Incident

India: MSC faces USD 1.1 billion lawsuit from Kerala state over “MSC ELSA 3” bunker spill

Reports noted approximately 84 mt of diesel and 376 mt of fuel oil on board the stricken vessel when it sank carrying 643 boxes.

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MSC Elsa 3 MT

Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is reportedly facing a USD 1.1 billion lawsuit from India’s southern state of Kerala which is seeking compensation over marine fuel leaked from MSC ELSA 3 into the Arabian Sea in May.

The High Court of Kerala on Monday (7 July) ordered authorities to seize containership MSC Akiteta II which was anchored in Vizhinjam Port until securities for the claim amount are deposited.

The 1,700 TEU capacity containership MSC ELSA 3 was sailing from Vizhinjam to Kochi when failure in its ballast management system caused it to sink on 25 May about 13 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala.

Reports noted approximately 84 metric tonnes (mt) of diesel and 376 mt of fuel oil on board the stricken vessel when it sank carrying 643 boxes.

 

Photo credit: Indian Ministry of Defence
Published: 9 July 2025

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Legal

Shell MGO bunker heist: Co-conspirator receives 302-month jail sentence

Abdul Latif Bin Ibrahim and accomplices siphoned over 150,000 mt of gasoil worth at least USD 74 million from Shell Pukom between August 2014 and January 2018.

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A Judge at the High Court of the Republic of Singapore on Monday (7 July) sentenced Abdul Latif Bin Ibrahim, a former Process Technician working at Shell Pulau Bukom, to a jail term of 25 years and two months (302 months), reported the Straits Times.

Latif pleaded guilty to a total of 30 charges – 20 charges under criminal breach of trust and 10 charges under money laundering – while consenting to have 34 remaining charges taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

The 67-year-old male is due to start his prison sentence on 30 September 2025.

Court documents obtained by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times showed Latif, with the help of other rogue Shell employees, siphoning over 150,000 metric tonnes (mt) of gasoil valued at least USD 74,469,000 (approximately SGD 100,601,000) from Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd’s (Shell) Pulau Bukom facility between August 2014 and January 2018.

Latif was arrested on 7 January 2018.

Investigations found him receiving a total of at least about SGD 7 million in criminal benefits between 2014 to 2018, of which he spent these monies on luxury watches, foreign property, cars, amongst others.

Authorities have seized assets worth approximately SGD 7.67 million from Latif; amongst recovered are:

  • One Rolex Daytona (leather strap) watch worth SGD 28,800
  • One Frank Muller watch worth SGD 7,000
  • One Frank Muller watch worth SGD 8,000
  • 03 packs of 1,000 pcs of SGD 1,000 notes worth SGD 3 million
  • 991 pcs of 1,000 pcs of SGD 1,000 notes worth SGD 991,000
  • 400 pcs of 1,000 pcs of SGD 1,000 notes worth SGD 400,000
  • Sales balance proceeds of BMW M5 worth SGD 174,300
  • Sales balance proceeds of Mercedes Benz E43 worth SGD 276,200
  • Sales balance proceeds of Aston Martin DBS Coupe worth SGD 338,200
  • Sale proceeds from property at St Martin’s Dr worth SGD 670,000
  • Sale proceeds from property at Suites@Braddell worth SGD 557,200

Earlier coverage of developments by Manifold Times regarding the Shell MGO bunker heist can be found below:

Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Man sentenced to jail for hindering police investigations
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Bunker clerk gets jail time for helping Sentek acquire misappropriated fuel
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Bunker clerk pleads guilty to helping Sentek acquire misappropriated fuel
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Shell employees sentenced to more than 23 years in prison each
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Shell employees plead guilty to multiple offences
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Shell employee receives over 16-year jail sentence
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Intertek Surveyor sentenced to four months’ jail for corruption
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Intertek Surveyor pleads guilty to corruption charge
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Shell Process Technician receives 195-month jail sentence
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Police seize property, cars, watches from ex-Shell Bukom Process Technician
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Shell blending specialist jailed over USD 956,000 worth of misappropriated gasoil
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Former Intertek, Inspectorate surveyors receive fines, jail sentences
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-CCIC Singapore surveyor pleads guilty to misconduct, receiving USD 12k in bribes
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Process Technician receives 184-month prison sentence over illicit involvement
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Syndicate member’s nephew jailed over concealment of safe containing valuables
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: 12 former surveyors from Intertek, Inspectorate, CCIC, SGS charged for corruption
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Former Shore Loading Officer receives 29-year jail sentence over total 85 charges
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Process Technician received minimum SGD 735,000 in benefits, faces 43 charges
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Ex-Shell employee admits leading role in illicit operation
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Sentek ex-Director faces 40 fresh charges
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Two former Shell employees jailed over theft
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: High Court affirms ‘Prime South’ forfeiture to Singapore State
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Three ex-Shell employees charged with bribing surveyors
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Second ex-Shell employee pleads guilty to nine charges
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: First ex-Shell employee to plead guilty over involvement
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Director of Singapore bunkering firm released from police custody
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Oil tanker ‘Prime South’ forfeited by State Courts of Singapore
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist: Director of Singapore bunkering firm face charge at State Courts
Related: Shell Singapore oil heist: Third offender pleads guilty for gas oil theft
Related: Captain of “Prime South” jailed in Shell Pulau Bukom gas oil theft
Related: Shell Singapore oil heist: Ex-Chief Officer of Prime South jailed
Related: Singapore: Shell MGO bunker heist amount balloons to USD$142 million
Related: Shell MGO bunker heist update: Fresh charges issued at Singapore court
Related: Shell Singapore oil heist: More charges issued at court
Related: Shell Singapore oil heist: Breakdown of stolen oil cargoes
Related: Intertek Singapore employee among Shell oil heist suspects

 

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 8 July 2025

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Vessel Arrest

Malaysia: MMEA detains tanker transporting 62,000 litres of diesel off Port Klang

Vessel was operated by a 43-year-old Indonesia captain with a crew of six Indonesians; captain failed to present any documents permitting the transport of the diesel which is a controlled item.

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Malaysia: MMEA detains tanker carrying 62,000 litres of diesel off Port Klang

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Friday (4 July) said it detained a tanker carrying 62,000 litres of diesel without valid documentation off Port Klang on 3 July. 

Selangor MMEA director Maritime Captain Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh said the tanker was detained at about one nautical mile west of Tanjung Harapan at 1.30pm during a routine patrol in Selangor waters. 

Initial checks showed the tanker was operated by a 43-year-old Indonesia captain with a crew of six, aged between 21 and 51, who were also Indonesians. All of them had complete identification documents. 

However, the captain failed to present any documents permitting the transport of the diesel cargo which is a controlled item. 

With that, a detention order was issued for the tanker. Both the captain and second engineer were arrested and were brought to the marine police jetty in Pulau Indah for further investigation. 

The case will be investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 for failure to provide a permit or special licences from the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry to possess, store or transport controlled goods.  

 

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 7 July, 2025

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