Sentek Marine & Trading to be charged for alleged offences linked to Shell Bukom heist

MARINE company Sentek Marine & Trading will be charged in court on Thursday (Sep 29) for alleged offences linked to the acquisition of over US$56 million in marine gasoil that had been taken from Shell’s facility at Pulau Bukom.

Sentek will face 42 charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act relating to acquiring property which it knew was another person’s benefit from criminal conduct, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement on Wednesday.

Between August 2014 and January 2018, Sentek allegedly received on its vessels a total of around 118,131 metric tonnes of marine gasoil, worth over US$56 million, which had been dishonestly misappropriated from Shell Eastern Petroleum’s facility at Pulau Bukom.

If convicted, each of Sentek’s alleged offences is punishable with a fine not exceeding S$1 million, or twice the value of the property in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is higher.

In August this year, Sentek’s ex-managing director Pai Keng Pheng was also charged with 42 related charges under the CDSA. Sentek’s acquisition of the marine gasoil had allegedly been done with Pai’s consent while he was managing director.

Pai also faces 30 charges for corruptly giving gratification under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and 11 charges for obstructing the course of justice under the Penal Code.