Legal

Shell MGO bunker heist: Second ex-Shell employee pleads guilty to nine charges

Accused’s primary role in the heist was to control the valve to bypass custody transfer meters which would otherwise capture the movement of bunker oil.

Published

4 years ago

January 7, 2021

Admin

A former Shell Eastern Petroleum employee on Wednesday (6 January) pleaded guilty to being involved in the Shell MGO bunker heist by embezzling millions of dollars’ worth of gas oil from the Pulau Bukom refinery for sale to other parties.

Muhammad Ashraf Bin Hamzah is the second former Shell employee to admit to his involvement in the case.

According to court documents obtained by Manifold Times, he pleaded guilty to nine accounts of aiding and abetting criminals in a breach of trust as an employee over SGD 49 million worth of gas oil between 2017 and 2018.

According to the court filing, former Shell employees Juandi bin Pungot, then a Shore Loading Officer and colleague Abdul Latif bin Ibrahim first began to conduct illegal loadings in 2007 for bunker vessel Anic 1.

Emboldened by their initial success, the duo expanded their illegal loadings to many other bunker ships, and recruited other colleagues into their scheme between 2008 and mid-2013.

Juandi and Abdul Latif subsequently recruited Muhammad Ashraf into the criminal syndicate no later than 2010.

Muhammad Ashraf’s primary role in the heist was to open and close the bypass valve to facilitate the transfer of misappropriated gasoil, by permitting co-conspirators to bypass the custody transfer meters which would otherwise capture the movement of oil. Muhammad Ashraf was aware of this.

Given the increase in manpower, the co-conspirators were able to increase the frequencies of illegal loadings for Anic 1 to approximately twice a month.

At the time, Muhammad Ashraf and some co-conspirators received between SGD 10,000 to SGD 15,000 per illegal loading.

From mid-2014, Abdul Latif left Shell but the syndicate decided to resume their criminal activities without Abdul Latif.

The syndicate continued to facilitate illegal loadings with Vietnamese vessels and some Singaporean corporate buyers.

At this point, operations involved corruptly bribing independent surveyors appointed by Shell to conduct inspections on the quality and quantity of gasoil sold to vessels, to refrain from accurately reporting the presence of excess gasoil onboard vessels which had been misappropriated.

Muhammad Ashraf left the syndicate in 2016 and received a total of SGD 700,000 in ill-gotten gains through his participation; he admitted to laundering a portion of the monies through the purchase of a Volvo V40 car for SGD 191,703.16.

He is currently out on bail and a sentencing has been scheduled for Tuesday, 2 March, 2021.

In December 2020, Indian national Sadagopan Premnath was the first ex-Shell employee to plead guilty to his involvement in the heist.

The estimated cost directly incurred by Shell at the end of 2020 to manage the consequence of the long-term misappropriation, including the implementation of new safety measures detailed is in the region of SGD 6 million.

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

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 7 January, 2021

Vessel Arrest

Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

Initial checks revealed that insurance documents and other documents related to the vessel appeared suspicious and all six crew members on board failed to provide valid identification documents.

Published

13 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Admin

Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

The Kelantan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Thursday (22 May) said it has detained a suspicious tanker at about 100 nautical miles from the Tok Bali estuary on 20 May.

Kelantan MMEA director, Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi said an MMEA asset had detained the tanker while patrolling the Malaysia-Vietnam border.

The vessel was detected after displaying several suspicious signs at around 1 pm before it was successfully detained 20 minutes later.

Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

“Initial checks revealed the vessel has six crew members, including a captain and all are believed to be Thai citizens aged between 38 and 70,” he said.

It was also found that the insurance documents and other documents related to the vessel appeared suspicious and all the crews on board the vessel failed to provide valid identification documents during the check.

The case is being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 23 May, 2025

Winding up

Singapore: Creditors’ meeting scheduled for Quetzal Offshore Pte Ltd

Meeting for Quetzal Offshore will be held through electronic means on 27 May at 3pm to confirm the appointment of liquidators, according to Government Gazette notice.

Published

3 days ago

May 21, 2025

Admin

The creditors’ meeting of Quetzal Offshore Pte Ltd Pte Ltd, has been scheduled to take place on 27 May, states a Monday (19 May) notice posted on the Government Gazette.

The meeting for creditors of the company will be held by way of electronic means at 3pm.

The purposes of the meeting are:

receiving a statement of the Company’s affairs together with a list of creditors and the estimated amounts of their claims;
confirming the appointment of Mr. Chan Kwong Shing, Adrian, Ms. Toh Ai Ling and Ms. Tan Yen Chiaw all care of KPMG Services Pte. Ltd. of 12 Marina View, #15-01 Asia Square Tower 2, Singapore 018961, as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company pursuant to Section 167(1) of the Act for the purpose of winding up the affairs of the Company at such remuneration based on time costs;
resolving 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;
forming a Committee of Inspection of not more than 5 members, if thought fit;
and any other business

According to SGP Business website, a business platform for businesses and individuals, the company’s main business was offering ship management services.

Photo credit: Benjamin-child
Published: 21 May, 2025

Sanctions

UK cracks down on Russian shadow fleet with fresh sanctions

Latest sanctions target 18 more ships in the ‘shadow fleet’ carrying Russians oil; John Michael Ormerod, a British national, also faced sanction for procuring ships for Russia’s shadow fleet.

Published

3 days ago

May 21, 2025

Admin

The UK on Tuesday (20 May) announced a raft of 100 sanctions targeting Russian military, energy, financial sectors and those conducting Putin’s information war against Ukraine.

The latest sanctions target 18 more ships in the ‘shadow fleet’ carrying Russians oil, along with the fleet’s enablers. The Prime Minister announced 110 shadow fleet related sanctions ahead of his visit to Kyiv earlier this month.

John Michael Ormerod, a British national, also faced sanction for procuring ships for Russia’s shadow fleet. Two Russian captains of shadow fleet tankers were also named in the list of individuals who were sanctioned.

“This action imposes a personal cost on those who are supporting Russia’s trade in oil and is another step in the Foreign Secretary’s personal mission to constrain the Kremlin and a crucial part of the Plan for Change to ensure a secure Britain,” the government said in a statement.

The UK is also working with partners to tighten the Oil Price Cap that limits the price that Russia can charge for its oil if transported using G7 services like insurance and shipping.

“We are reviewing the $60 crude price level, with a view to lowering the cap closer to the cost of production and hitting Putin where it hurts by striking at his oil revenues,” it added.

The following is the list of sanctioned 18 ships: