Shell heist: Man jailed for role in misappropriating gas oil worth over $2m

SINGAPORE - An employee of oil giant Shell took part in a conspiracy with his colleagues to misappropriate from the firm gas oil worth US$1,558,400 - S$2,078,692 according to court documents - between Dec 31, 2017, and Jan 7, 2018.

As a reward, Quek Rong Hong received an envelope containing $20,000 and US$20,000.

Quek, 38, was sentenced to a year and four months' jail on Monday. He had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust involving 1593.2 metric tonnes of gas oil valued at about US$956,389.

Two other charges, including those linked to the remaining amount, were considered during sentencing. He has not made any restitution.

Gas oil is crude oil that has gone through the refining process. It is often used as commercial fuel and as an alternative to diesel in some countries.

One of the masterminds of the heist, Juandi Pungot, then 45, was jailed for 29 years in March for siphoning nearly $128 million worth of gas oil.

The first key player to be dealt with in court for his role in the conspiracy, he had been given one of the longest prison terms for a commercial crime.

The cases involving several other people are still pending. They include Koh Choon Wei, 40, Muzaffar Ali Khan Muhamad Akram, 41, and Tiah Kok Hwee, 45.

Quek, who joined Shell in 2005, was working as a blending specialist at the time of his offences.

As part of his job, he assisted in blending gas oil from different tanks to create a blended fuel product, according to the specifications of Shell's customers.

In December 2017, Juandi recruited him into the conspiracy to misappropriate gas oil from Shell Pulau Bukom. It is currently Shell's only energy and chemicals park in Asia.

To secure his cooperation, Juandi gave Quek an envelope containing his monetary reward.

The court heard that Muzaffar called Quek on Jan 7, 2018, and told him that an illegal loading would be taking place soon.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Ryan Lim and Joshua Phang stated in court documents: "Acting on Muzaffar's instructions, the accused blended low sulphur gas oil into a tank specified by Muzaffar. The accused also prepared an internal transfer of gas oil between two specific tanks to mask the misappropriation of gas oil and passed details of the same to Muzaffar."

According to the prosecution, Muzaffar and Koh had negotiated with the captain of the vessel over the misappropriation.

After that, Tiah and another man, known as Sadagopan Premnath, who were stationed in a control room, initiated the illegal transfer of gas oil to the vessel.

Sadagopan, then 40, was earlier sentenced to six years and eight months in jail.

On Aug 1, 2017, a Shell representative made a police report stating that the company had suffered an unidentified loss of fuel.

Quek was arrested on Jan 8, 2018, and the authorities seized the money Juandi had given him.

For criminal breach of trust, an offender can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined.