A man was given a two-month jail term for lying to the police about the whereabouts of the$ 128 million ( US$ 95 million ) Shell Pulau Bukom fuel heist on Friday ( Jan 31 ).
Wong Wai Seng, 53, pleaded guilty to one fee of perverting the course of justice.
Four counts of aiding problem by paying bribes to the bunker clerks to avert investigations and stay away from Singapore were dropped.
The Pulau Bukom plant, Shell’s largest petroleum production and export center in Asia Pacific, was the location of the theft of sea gas between 2007 and 2018.
One of the program’s masterminds, Juandi Pungot, reaped at least S$ 5.6 million in legal money and was jailed for 29 times for his position.
The syndicate organized and organized improper loadings of sea fuel onto ships at market rates, distributing the unlawful proceeds among themselves.
Sentek 22 and Sentek 26, both of which belonged to Sentek Marine &, Investing, were two of the vessels that were given stolen energy.
Three basement staff on these arteries – Boo Pu Wen, Wong Kuin Wah and Wong Wai Meng – were involved in the theft.
Shell reported the stolen energy to the police in August 2017, and one of Sentek’s people was detained in January 2018.
Wong worked for Sentek as an businesses professional. After the company’s imprisonment, he helped to switch directions from Sentek’s controlling chairman Pai Keng Pheng to the three vault clerks.
In addition to these recommendations, they were instructed to depart Singapore as soon as possible in January 2018. As a result, Wong Wai Meng, who was Wong’s sibling, left for Medan.
Wong sent Boo and Wong Kuin Wah, who were on various Sentek vessels, emails telling them never to go back to shore and when to board new warships to depart from Singapore’s interface limits.
Wong also admitted to telling them to “help” and “endure long” by staying outside of Singapore.
On Pai’s guidelines, Wong also told the vault staff to throw away their labor phones, which contained messages relating to the gas attack.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon, this was to stifle studies into Sentek and some ‘ involvement in the theft of sea energy.
Wong later relayed Pai’s recommendations for the three basement staff to go to Batam, where they stayed at theD’Merlion Hotel, which was owned by Sentek’s girl firm in Indonesia.
They remained there for almost three decades until January 2021, when they returned to Singapore and were detained.
During that period, Wong continued handing his brother’s income to his home, and even visited him in Batam half.
LIED TO POLICE
Wong was informed by the police that he should record so that his statement could be transcribed. Wong made this known to Pai.
Pai told Wong, if asked, to tell the police that the basement staff were deployed on the great lakes and uncontactable.
Pai also scheduled Wong to attend a meeting with a middle-aged Taiwanese gentleman, who Pai claimed was a former police officer.
Wong was informed of the policeman interview process and told him not to worry about it.
Additionally, the man claimed that Wong may state that he did not know anything if the authorities inquired about the stolen fuel.
Wong then asserted that the basement assistants were stationed on the high seas and unreachable when questioned about them during his first authorities speech on November 20, 2018.
He kept what he knew about their role in the attack, where they were hiding, and how he could get in touch with them on their personal devices.
He continued to suppress his knowledge in later police statements, preventing investigations into the theft of sea fuel, according to Mr. Menon.
The authorities informed Wong that the bunker clerks had been detained at the start of the recording of his seventh declaration, which was recorded on February 10, 2021, at the start of the tracking.
Only at this point did Wong acknowledge lying to the authorities and that he had always known that the basement clerks were hiding in Batam, according to Mr. Menon.
The counsel requested two to four months in prison, arguing that Wong was trying to cover up serious crimes.
Wong’s actions, according to Mr. Menon, also prevented the Singapore Police Force ( SPF ) from obtaining important evidence held by the bunker clerks.
” If the basement staff had not chosen to return to Singapore, the lack of their information may have been dangerous to important elements of SPF’s studies”, he said.
The attorney also argued that Wong’s offences were frequent, powerful and determined to defend his personal perceived interests, as he had been abetting Pai’s extortion of the bunker clerks.
Wong’s lawyer Hong Qibin said his client played the role of a “mouthpiece” and that all his actions were carried out under Pai’s instructions.
He added that Wong confessed to the police that he had been lying on purpose, but Mr. Menon claimed that Wong did so because Wong already knew that” the game was up” by that point.
Up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both are possible penalties for perverting the course of justice.