Mastermind behind S$128 million oil heist from Shell's Pulau Bukom facility jailed 29 years

The 29-year jail term is one of the longest prison terms handed out for a commercial crime.

Irwan Shah | April 02, 2022, 05:50 PM

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Juandi Pungot, 45, was sentenced to 29 years in jail on March 31 for operating as one of the masterminds behind a massive S$128 million oil heist at Shell Eastern Petroleum's Pulau Bukom facility.

The former Shell employee pleaded guilty to 36 charges, with 49 other charges considered during the sentence. His crimes involved a criminal breach of trust, giving bribes and almost S$128 million worth of misappropriated gas oil according to The Straits Times.

Juandi was one of the three key players — including Abdul Latif Ibrahim and Muzaffar Ali Khan — in the huge conspiracy which began in 2007 and stretched to 2018.  TODAY mentioned that over 300,000 tonnes of gas oil were siphoned during this period, amounting to hundreds of million dollars.

It was then sold to foreign vessels at a lower market rate. The profit was split among the accomplices — earning Juandi about S$5 million from the criminal activities, reported CNA.

Spending it all

The money earned was used to purchase a condominium in Singapore, several cars, luxury watches, and properties in Bangkok and Batam among others as mentioned in The Straits Times.

He also gambled with over S$500,000 worth of casino chips at Marina Bay Sands between 2012 and 2016. The ill-gotten money was also put into foreign exchange trading and investments, such as The 3 Amigoes restaurant at Bussorah Street, reported CNA.

From three-man team to syndicate

According to The Straits Times, the idea for the heist came up in 2007 when Juandi and Abdul Latif were working on the same team. Muzaffar joined the duo afterwards between late 2007 to early 2008, and the trio began planning their covert enterprise.

They started their elaborate scheme, making full use of their in-depth knowledge of Shell's systems' inner works to their advantage.

Several other colleagues were roped in for the "cause" and the team established a network with captains and crews of foreign vessels over the years. The price of the gas oil varied, depending on the type of vessel, according to CNA.

Their elaborate operation remained undetected for years thanks to their meticulous methods of evasion.

One of these methods includes bribing six independent surveyors with almost S$275,000 to ensure the smooth transfer of gas oil to the vessels.

Something amiss

Shell appointed a team of analysts after they noticed a huge amount of unidentified gas oil loss since 2015 at its Pulau Bukom facility.

Yahoo!News mentioned that Shell lost about S$128 million in gas oil, and incurred a S$6 million bill in beefing up its systems and processes.

A shell representative made a police report in August 2017 when the syndicate's activities were unravelled. Juandi then decided to resign in December 2017 but was still involved in collecting and distributing proceeds for the syndicate. He was eventually arrested in January 2018.

Juandi, who is currently on a S$500,000 bail, will serve his sentence on May 6 after he takes some time to be with his family and to attend a medical appointment according to TODAY.

The Pulau Bukom refinery is one of Shell's biggest petrochemical production and export centre in the APAC region.

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Top photo by Budak.