---

A former employee of oil firm and bunker supplier Chevron Singapore Pte. Ltd. has been charged with corruption and siphoning marine fuel at a Singapore district court on Friday, The Straits Times reports.

Chevron operations executive Shanker Balasubramaniam is alleged to have conspired with marine cargo surveyor Remy Khaizan to misappropriate bunker fuel worth a total of $223,314 on four separate occasions between October and November 2007.

Balasubramaniam and Khaizan are also accused of giving bribes worth $22,300 on five occasions to Mr Viknasvaran Kumarasamy, a petroleum surveyor, in return for under-declaring the amount of fuel delivered to a number of ships.

Balasubramaniam faces a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a jail term of up to five years for corruption if convicted. The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust is a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.

The case was adjourned today until April 30th. Balasubramaniam was released on $50,000 bail.

Oil company Chevron Singapore Pte. Ltd. is the 12th-largest bunker supplier in Singapore by volume, according to recent data released by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA).

Bunker sales at the world's largest bunker port reached a new record of 34.9 million tonnes last year. The figure surpassed the previous year's record of 31.5 million tonnes by 10.7 percent.