SINGAPORE: Two former executives with Sembcorp Marine, now Seatrium, were charged with bribing Brazilian officials on Mar 28 (Thursday). Wong Weng Sun, the former CEO of Sembcorp Marine, was among the two men charged. He has also been handed an obstruction of justice charge
A joint statement from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said that Wong, 62, and Lee Fook Kang, 75, “were charged with corruption offences involving the payment of bribes for the benefit of persons in Brazil.”
Lee is the former senior general manager of Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd (JSPL). After Sembcorp Marine merged with Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM) in 2023, the new entity became known as Seatrium.
The statement from the CPIB and AGC said that Wong and Lee have been charged with five counts of corruption each for “conspiring to give gratification” to Guilherme Esteves de Jesus, a former consultant with the company.
Moreover, “the Public Prosecutor is also in discussions with the Company on a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in respect of the alleged corruption offences that occurred in Brazil.”
Wong had been Sembcorp Marine’s President, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer as well as JSPL’s Managing Director at the time the offences were committed. The charges that the two men are facing are punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The offences have been described as follows:
In 2009, Wong and Lee were said to have conspired to give de Jesus gratification of not more than US$2 million or the benefit of one or more Brazilian officials
And between 2010 and 2012, the two allegedly conspired to give him gratification of almost US$1,905,345 for one or more officers of Petroleo Brasileiro
In 2010 as well, the two allegedly conspired to give de Jesus almost US$1.2 million for the benefit of one or more Brazilian politicians.
These three bribes were carried out to advance JSPL’s interests in Brazil.
In that same year, they also allegedly conspired to give him US$300,000 for Brazilian officials, to advance the business interests of Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz Ltd (EJA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine.
Moreover, they also allegedly conspired to hand de Jesus “gratification in the form of moneys amounting to not more than 2.5 per cent of the contract sums of contracts relating to drilling rig units to be awarded by Sete Brasil Participacoes S.A.” to one or more persons, for the benefit of EJA.
The total sum of gratifications given to de Jesus was US$26,478,989.80, EUR10,506,608.22 and BRL5,066,794.77.
The statement added that Wong has also been charged with allegedly instructing two employees of the Marine Sembcorp in 2014 to remove an email sent by de Jesus containing evidence of bribes. This constitutes an obstruction of justice, punishable under Section 204A of the Penal Code.
“In addition to bringing charges against Wong and Lee, the Public Prosecutor is in discussions with the Company concerning a DPA in respect of the alleged corruption offences that occurred in Brazil,” the statement added.
Seatrium will be required under the proposed DPA to pay a financial penalty of US$110 million (S$148.44 million). Of this, as much as US$53 million (S$71.5 million) could be used to settle the payments agreed upon by Brazilian authorities. /TISG
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