SINGAPORE — Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM) is said to have paid off $343.57 million reais (equivalent to approximately US$65 million) of its fines and damages to the Brazilian authorities.
This is in relation to the corrupt payments made by KOM’s former agent to public officials and the Workers’ Party in Brazil, following the global resolution reached in December 2017 with criminal authorities in Brazil, the United States and Singapore.
In the plea agreement signed by KOM’s board of directors in December 2017, KOM pleaded guilty to the charge of paying bribe money amounting up to US$55 million “in or about and between 2000 and 2016” to secure a Tension-Leg Platform project from Petrobas and agreed to pay a total criminal penalty of US$422 million.
KOM and its related entities, including KOM USA, have said to earned profits totalling approximately US$159.9 million from the project.
Last December, KOM reached a joint resolution and concluded a leniency agreement with the authorities in Brazil, namely the Brazilian Attorney-General’s Office (AGU) and Comptroller General of the Union (CGU), which have parallel mandates with the Brazilian criminal authorities to enforce certain anti-corruption laws.
This settlement also resolves CGU’s administrative enforcement procedure against KOM and several other KOM entities, which, as announced by Keppel on 20 August 2020, which had been suspended pending the ongoing discussions with these Brazilian authorities.
KOM’s parent company, Keppel Corporation Limited, announced on Monday (30 Jan) that KOM has made full payment of the fines and damages payable under the leniency agreement.
Keppel also notes that both the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and Corrupt Practices Investigation Burea (CPIB) have confirmed that KOM may avail itself of the crediting of up to US$52.58 million pursuant to the terms of the Conditional Warning in respect of the fines payable by KOM to the Brazilian authorities.
KOM was earlier served a conditional warning by CPIB and AGC on 23 December 2017 for corruption offences punishable under Section 5(b)(i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
CPIB then issued a press statement on 12 January on the issuing of stern warnings to six unnamed individuals who were formerly senior management staff of KOM after close to five years of its investigations into offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). This decision was said to have been made in consultation with the AGC.
According to CPIB, this case is complex and transnational, involving multiple authorities and witnesses from several countries.
“There are evidentiary difficulties in cases of such nature. Many of the documents are located in different jurisdictions. In addition, key witnesses are located outside of Singapore and cannot be compelled to give evidence here. The decision whether to prosecute the six individuals for criminal offences has to take into consideration all relevant factors, such as the culpability of each individual, the available evidence and what is appropriate in the circumstances.”
“Having taken these into consideration, stern warnings were issued to the six individuals.”
In light of the questions stemming from the decision not to prosecute the company and its former executives, the Workers’ Party has filed a series of parliamentary questions for the Singapore Government in the upcoming February Parliament sitting.
