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TWO individuals related to Seatrium, formerly Sembcorp Marine, have been charged with corruption offences involving the payment of bribes for the benefit of persons in Brazil.
The public prosecutor is also in discussions with Seatrium on a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that will require the company to pay a financial penalty for the alleged corruption offences, said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) in a joint statement on Thursday (Mar 28).
The two individuals charged are Wong Weng Sun – who was president, executive director and chief executive of Seatrium, and managing director of subsidiary Jurong Shipyard at the time of the alleged offences; and Lee Fook Kang – senior general manager of Jurong Shipyard at the time of the alleged offences.
Wong and Lee each faces five charges of conspiring to corruptly give gratification to Guilherme Esteves de Jesus (GDJ), a former consultant with Seatrium, for the benefit of persons in Brazil, to advance the business interests of the company’s subsidiaries in Brazil.
Wong has also been charged with obstruction of justice.
He allegedly instructed two employees of Seatrium in 2014 to remove an email sent by GDJ containing evidence of bribes that GDJ had given or would be giving to other persons.
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As for the proposed DPA, the company will likely be required to pay a financial penalty of US$110 million. Up to US$53 million of the amount may be used to offset the settlement payment totalling 670,699,731.73 Brazilian real, which are under the in-principle settlement agreements that the company has reached with the authorities in Brazil.
This is a settlement under which the prosecution agrees to defer criminal charges against a corporate offender, in exchange for the corporation’s agreement to comply with various conditions, such as admission of wrongdoing, payment of financial penalties, and implementation of corporate reform.
Contents and terms of the DPA remain to be worked out and agreed upon. It will also have to be approved by the General Division of the High Court before it comes into force.
The AGC said it considered all the relevant factors in this case, including the available evidence, and assessed that there was sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution.
This is unlike the Keppel Offshore & Marine case where there were evidentiary difficulties, it added.
In May 2023, the CPIB said it was “acting on information received” and investigating Seatrium, and individuals from the company for alleged corruption offences in Brazil.
This comes after Seatrium in March 2023 issued a notice that its wholly owned subsidiary, Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz, was being investigated for “alleged irregularities” in its practices.
Any person convicted of a corruption offence can be imprisoned for up to five years and/or fined up to S$100,000. Any person convicted of an offence of obstruction of justice can be imprisoned for up to seven years and/or fined.
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