Former Shell Employees Charged For Corruption
On 23 February 2021, three former employees of Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd (“Shell”), who were earlier charged by the Singapore Police Force for their alleged involvement in misappropriating fuel from Shell Bukom, were further charged in court for corruption offences. Between 2014 to 2017, they allegedly gave or conspired to give corrupt gratifications totalling about US$116,900 to employees of various surveying companies which were engaged by Shell to inspect vessels which Shell supplied fuel to. The three individuals are:
a) Juandi Bin Pungot (“Juandi”, 44-year-old male Singaporean)
b) Muzaffar Ali Khan Bin Muhamad Akram (“Muzaffar”, 40-year-old male Singaporean)
c) Richard Goh Chee Keong (“Richard”, 吴志强, 51-year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident)
2. Between 2014 and 2017, Juandi and Muzaffar, who were employees of Shell at the material time, allegedly conspired to give corrupt gratifications totalling about US$91,900 to 10 employees of various surveying companies as rewards for refraining from accurately reporting the amount of gasoil loaded onto vessels which they were engaged to inspect. For these actions, they each face a total of 13 charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, of which seven charges were amalgamated under Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
3. The third individual, Richard, who was also an employee of Shell at material time, allegedly gave gratifications totalling US$25,000 to three employees of various surveying companies between 2016 and 2017, as rewards or inducement for refraining to accurately report the amount of gasoil loaded onto vessels which they were engaged to inspect. Accordingly, he faces a total of four charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
4. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to $100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years or to both.
5. Companies are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures in areas such as procurement and internal audit to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their employees. Guidance for companies on measures to prevent corruption can be found in PACT: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore, which is available on CPIB’s website. Companies are also strongly encouraged to obtain certification under the Singapore Standard (SS) ISO 37001 – Anti-Bribery Management Systems, which is designed to help companies implement or enhance an anti-bribery management system to reduce corporate risk and costs related to bribery.
Reference Links:
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau