SINGAPORE - A bunker clerk was employed at a firm dealing with fuels when he helped it acquire more than 28,000 tonnes of misappropriated marine gas oil worth around US$13.58 million (nearly S$18.36 million according to court documents).

On Nov 29, Wong Wai Meng, a 58-year-old Singaporean who received more than $286,000 from Singapore-based Sentek Marine & Trading for his assistance, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of intentionally helping the firm to acquire the misappropriated fuel.

Wong’s job scope included facilitating the transfer and receipt of cargo, such as gas oil, on board a bunkering vessel called Sentek 22. He committed the offences over 46 occasions between August 2014 and December 2017.

Gas oil is refined crude oil and is often used as fuel and an alternative to diesel in some countries.

The fuel had been dishonestly misappropriated from Shell Eastern Petroleum’s Pulau Bukom facility by a group of rogue Shell employees.

Several former employees, who were key members of the group, were dealt with in court earlier.

The group had secretly siphoned off more than 200,000 tonnes of gas oil worth more than $120 million between August 2014 and January 2018.

For the current case, the prosecution said that the rogue Shell employees had sold misappropriated gas oil to Sentek, which agreed to buy it at prices lower than the prevailing estima...