One of the masterminds behind the large-scale theft of oil from Shell’s largest refinery in Singapore has been sentenced to 29 years in jail.
The sentence is reported to be one of the longest prison terms given out in Singapore for a commercial crime.
Between 2007 and 2018, Juandi Pungot, 45, was part of a conspiracy that stole SGD 128m ($94.3m) worth of gasoil belonging to Shell Eastern Petroleum from its facility at Pulau Bukom.
In early February 2022, Pungot pleaded guilty in the High Court of Singapore to 36 charges out of 85 charges against him. The remaining 49 charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.
In sentencing, high court judge Hoo Sheau Peng said the offences “hit at the heart” of the bunkering and petrochemical industry, which is a “pillar of Singapore’s economy”.
“The massive scale of offending is unprecedented. The length of offending is substantial. The offending affects Singapore’s reputation as a commercial hub,” she said.
“Offending of such a scale would erode our international reputation and status as a global port for maritime trade and industry.”
Justice Hoo described the offences as “premeditated, planned and sophisticated in nature”.
“Exploiting their in-depth knowledge of Shell’s systems, the accused and the co-conspirators were able to conceal their offending for a prolonged period of time,” she said.
“The steps undertaken, such as configuring the flow of gas oil to avoid routes with custody transfer meters, demonstrate a deviousness in evading detection.
“Their efforts to cover their tracks clearly paid off as Shell had to invest a significant amount of effort to uncover the unexplained oil losses,” she added.
Generally, to broker a deal to sell misappropriated gas oil, a shore loading officer of the syndicate engaged with the captain of a vessel to discuss the sale and purchase of the gas oil.
The misappropriated gas oil was sold at a price lower than its prevailing estimated market value as derived from the S&P Global Platts index.
The criminal proceeds were then split amongst all co-conspirators even if they were not present during the illegal loading, so as to prevent any unhappiness among the co-conspirators.
Pungot’s share of the proceeds reportedly came in at SGD 5.6m, which allowed him to go on a spending spree, buying luxury cars and watches, condominiums in Singapore and property abroad, as well as indulging in foreign exchange trading and other forms of gambling.
He is one of around 20 people in two syndicates who have been caught in a dragnet that included not only former Shell employees, but also those of bunker tanker operators and surveying companies.
The prosecution of many of the accused continues. Several have already been found guilty and given hefty prison sentences.
The second syndicate was found to have used a similar scheme to steal large volumes of fuel from the Pulau Bukom refinery between 2014 and 2018.
