MAS, CAD investigating Seatrium on potential offences in Brazil bribery case

Seatrium said it had been informed on Friday evening (Jun 14) that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) are conducting a joint investigation into offences potentially committed by the company and/or its officers.

The potential offences are related to a decade-old bribery case in Brazil infamously dubbed “Operation Car Wash”.

In a filing with the Singapore Exchange on Saturday, the offshore and marine group – formerly known as Sembcorp Marine – said the potential offences are under the Securities and Futures Act and the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.

“The MAS and the CAD have requested for further information from the company for the purpose of the investigations. The company continues to provide its full cooperation to the Singapore authorities,” Seatrium said.

On Mar 28 this year, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) jointly announced that two former Seatrium executives – Wong Weng Sun and Lee Fook Kang – had each been slapped with five charges of conspiring to corruptly give gratification worth millions of dollars to officials in Brazil from 2009 to 2014.

Lee was senior general manager of a unit within the group at the time of the offences.

Wong, who was CEO of the group at the time of the offences, was also charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly instructing two employees in 2014 to remove an e-mail containing evidence of the bribery.

CPIB and AGC also stated then that the public prosecutor was in discussions with Seatrium on a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) on the alleged corruption offences in Brazil. The proposed DPA will require the company to pay a financial penalty of US$110 million. Of this amount, Seatrium may be allowed to offset up to US$53 million against the 670.7 million reals (about S$182.4 million) that it is to pay the Brazilian authorities under an in-principle settlement agreement announced on Feb 26.

“The contents and terms of the DPA remain to be worked out and agreed upon by the public prosecutor and the company. The DPA will also have to be approved by the General Division of the High Court, before it comes into force,” the CPIB and AGC stated at the time.