BREAKING; more details will be added soon.
An employee with Intertek has been arrested as part of a criminal investigation into the theft of oil from Shell Oil’s Palau Bukom site. Muhammad Ali bin Muhammad Nor faces two charges of conspiracy to steal oil from the Shell facility, working alongside employees from within Shell Eastern Petroleum in Singapore. In total, 14 people have been arrested so far, with 11 from Singapore and 3 from Vietnam.
It is not immediately clear what service Intertek provided to Shell, but it’s thought to be laboratory testing and not ISO 9001 certification.
Ali, age 51, was arrested for his role in a December 31st theft of 1,707 metric tonnes of fuel worth just under $450,000 US. Intertek has refused to comment on the arrest. His bail has been set for $22,760 US.
In addition, the investigation claims that three tankers involved in the scheme were also engaged in unspecified “criminal activity.” The vessels are Sentek 26 operated by Sentek Marine & Trading, and the Prime South and Gaea MT, operated by Prime Shipping Corp. of Vietnam. Sentek is ISO 9001 registered by LRQA. Two of those arrested worked for Sentek.
Singapore police report the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected.
