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

6 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

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

14 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: