SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore authorities on Thursday charged a former CEO of Sembcorp Marine and an ex-senior general manager of one of the company’s unit with bribing Brazilian officials to advance the company’s interests in Brazil, according to a statement.
The city-state’s Attorney-General’s Chambers and Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said in the statement that ex-CEO Wong Weng Sun and ex-manager Lee Fook Kang faced five charges of conspiring to give a middleman inducements to advance the business interests of Sembcorp Marine’s Brazilan subsidiaries.
The total amount of inducements and rewards offered amounted to about $44 million, according to the statement.
Lawyers for Wong and Lee did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Wong has also been charged with obstruction of justice after he allegedly instructed two Sembcorp employees in 2014 to delete an email sent by the middleman that contained evidence of bribes. The alleged offences took place between 2009 and 2014, according to the statement.
Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine merged in 2023 to form Seatrium Ltd.
Besides the charges, Singapore prosecutors were also in discussions with the merged entity for a deferred prosecution agreement, which would see the company pay a penalty of $110 million, according to the statement.
Seatrium said in a stock exchange announcement on Thursday that the Attorney-General’s Chambers was agreeable to enter into the deferred prosecution agreement.
It said it remains committed to the highest standards of compliance, including in particular zero tolerance for bribery and corruption.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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