SINGAPORE: Three men were charged in court on Thursday (Sep 15) with several counts of conspiracy to obstruct investigations into suspected transfers of gasoil to North Korea.
In October 2018, the police received information that a Singapore-registered oil tanker, Marine Tanker Sea Tanker II, was allegedly used in ship-to-ship transfers of gasoil with North Korean-flagged vessels, said the police in a news release.
According to court documents, the accused are Ong Chou Hong, Jeremy Koh Renfeng and Benny Tan Chun Kiat.
Koh, 40 and Tan, 47, were cargo officers on the oil tanker. Ong, 32, was employed as an assistant marine superintendent at Sea Hub Tankers. The company is the registered owner of the vessel.
Police investigations revealed that the men had allegedly conspired to falsify records in the ship documents of MT Sea Tanker II, specifically, the official logbook and part of the oil record book. The documents contained information on the vessel’s movement and cargo activity during the material period, said the police.
The falsified records were then provided to the Singapore authorities who were investigating the vessel’s activities.
Further investigations revealed that prior to the vessel’s return to Singapore, Ong and Koh allegedly conspired to dismantle and dispose of a computer processing unit that was onboard the oil tanker.
This was “to prevent the Singapore authorities from obtaining information in the CPU relating to the vessel’s activities during the material period”, said the police.
If found guilty of intentionally obstructing the course of justice under the Penal Code, they may be jailed up to seven years, fined or both.