Former employee of Shell Eastern Petroleum Tiah Kok Hwee was sentenced to 16 years and four months’ jail at the State Courts of Singapore on Tuesday (17 January) over his involvement in the Shell MGO bunker heist.
Tiah, 46, pleaded guilty earlier to 20 counts of criminal breach of trust involving nearly USD 68 million (about SGD 94 million).
According to court documents seen by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times, financial investigations revealed that the accused obtained criminal benefits of at least SGD 1.4 million through his offences. Tiah spent his criminal benefits on luxury watches, foreign property, investments, gambling and cars.
Some of the cars he purchased included a Honda Odyssey, Audi R8, Mercedes Benz C180 and BMW 316. He also used the money to purchase a property called “The Lone” in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tiah also admitted to four counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct involving more than SGD 4.2 million. A total of 28 other charges were considered during sentencing.
Tiah first joined Shell sometime in 2005 as a Process Technician. From end of 2016, Tiah was an Shore Loading Officer-in-training. At the time of arrest, Tiah’s monthly basic salary was about SGD 4,500, and his annual salary was about SGD 80,000 including bonus, allowances and overtime pay.
According to the documents, he was regarded as a “key member of the conspiracy whose experience and expertise enabled the success of the operation.”
Juandi bin Pungot, former Shore Loading Officer of the Shell Pulau Bukom manufacturing site, was one of the masterminds of a long-term and large-scale conspiracy to misappropriate gasoil from the Shell Pulau Bukom manufacturing site as early as 2007.
Juandi received a 29-year jail sentence at the State Courts of the Republic of Singapore on 31 March 2022.
Juandi faced a total of 85 charges for criminal breach of trust (40 charges), money-laundering (32 charges), and corruptly giving gratifications to various surveyors (13 charges).
The Shell MGO bunker heist also involves others including Muzaffar Ali Khan Muhamad Akram and Abdul Latif Ibrahim whose cases are currently pending.
Earlier coverage of developments by Manifold Times regarding the Shell MGO bunker heist can be found below:
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Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 18 January, 2023
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