4 jailed for stealing petrol worth $183 from Police Coast Guard craft

SINGAPORE - Four technicians working for the same company hatched a plan to siphon petrol off Police Coast Guard (PCG) patrol craft over a period of four days in July 2023.

Together, they managed to steal around 100 litres of petrol, valued at $183.04, off active PCG craft berthed at Lim Chu Kang.

Alden Teo Chee Kiat, 32, Muhammad Khairullah Abdullah, 31, Muhammad Rizuan Leman, 34, and Muhammad Shahzwan Hissam, 33, pleaded guilty to theft of the petrol on Feb 14.

Teo was sentenced to three weeks in jail, Rizuan and Shahzwan were sentenced to a month in jail, and Khairullah was sentenced to one month and one week in jail.

They must also compensate for the stolen petrol, with Teo paying back $45.76, Rizuan and Shahzwan $54.91 each, and Khairullah $101.65.

The compensation also takes into account the individual charges for Rizuan, Shahzwan and Khairullah, involving separate incidents of stealing petrol.

Teo, Khairullah, Rizuan and Shahzwan were working for Lungteh Shipbuilding, a firm contracted by PCG to help service and maintain their patrol craft berthed at PCG's Lim Chu Kang base.

They were employed as service technicians, and were tasked to clean the PCG craft's engines and generators and change the engine oil.

The court heard that while servicing a patrol craft, they realised the vehicle operated on petrol.

They hatched a plan to siphon some of the petrol for their own use, by stealing and storing the petrol in a 30-litre jerry can and 10-litre manual pneumatic fluid extractor, before hiding the stolen petrol at their company's workshop just off the PCG base.

On July 3, 2023, the four men acted on their plan and siphoned around 40 litres of petrol. They later used the stolen petrol to refill their motorcycles, while Teo topped up his car.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Suriya Prakash said after the first time, they decided to steal more petrol using the same method.

On July 4, July 10 and July 11, the four men stole around 60 litres of petrol from PCG patrol craft.

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Their act was uncovered on Aug 2, 2023, when a branch manager of Lungteh Shipbuilding noticed petrol inside one of the firm's manual pneumatic fluid extractors, and lodged a police report.

All four men, who were present in court together on Feb 14, were not represented by a lawyer.

During mitigation, Teo said the incident had been tough on him as he was not used to being on the wrong side of the law.

He added: "I felt the pressure on me, and people have been looking at me in a different way."

Rizuan and Shahzwan said they were sole breadwinners in their household. Khairullah also pleaded for leniency. He told the court he just got a new job and a new home, and regretted what he had done.

For committing theft in a vessel, a person can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.