THE Business Times outlines the sequence of events involving Singapore companies &ndash Sembmarine (now called Seatrium) and Keppel Offshore and Marine (Keppel O& M) &ndash in Brazil&rsquo s Operation Car Wash:

 

July 2016: 

 

Former Keppel agent Zwi Skornicki says company&rsquo s executives authorised him to bribe public officials in Brazil in exchange for Petrobras contracts. Keppel terminates agency relationship with Skornicki. 

 

Jan 2018: 

 

Keppel O& M readies to pay fines amounting to US$422.2 million to authorities in the US, Brazil and Singapore.

 

Keppel O& M&rsquo s wholly owned unit Keppel Fels Brasil strikes a leniency agreement with the Public Prosecutor&rsquo s Office in Brazil, and Keppel O& M USA agrees to plead guilty in line with a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice. 

 

Feb 2018: 

 

Several former key executives of Keppel and its units arrested in connection with the Singapore authorities&rsquo investigation into the corruption scandal. 

 

July 2019: 

 

Sembmarine says its yard in the south-eastern state of Brazil was raided, and the facility&rsquo s former president was being investigated. 

 

Company lodges suspicious transaction report a week later on Jul 8, 2019, with the Commercial Affairs Department.

 

October 2019: 

 

Keppel and Sembmarine reach settlements with Sete Brasil for oil rig-building contracts worth billions of dollars after the Brazilian company was forced to file for bankruptcy. 

 

February 2020: 

 

EJA&rsquo s former president Martin Cheah charged with money laundering and corruption by the Public Prosecutor&rsquo s Office in Brazil. 

 

Another individual, Guilherme Esteves de Jesus, is also charged with money laundering. Companies connected to him were engaged by Sembmarine&rsquo s subsidiaries as consultants in Brazil.

 

September 2020: 

 

Brazil extends Operation Car Wash until Jan 31, 2021. 

 

  December 2022: 

 

Keppel O& M commits to pay 343.6 million reais (S$93.1 million) in fines and damages to the Brazilian Federal Treasury and Petrobras. 

 

January 2023: 

 

Six former Keppel O& M staff issued stern warnings for offences related to bribe payments to Petrobras officials. The individuals were not named. 

 

March 2023: 

 

Sembmarine announces that its unit Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz (EJA) is being investigated for &ldquo alleged irregularities&rdquo in its practices. 

 

Sembmarine later clarifies that preliminary administrative proceedings started by Brazil&rsquo s Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) against EJA are related to past conduct linked to Operation Car Wash.

 

April 2023: 

 

Proceedings against EJA are suspended by the Comptroller General of the Union.

 

May 2023: 

 

Seatrium announces that it is being investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) for alleged corruption offences. 

 

December 2023: 

 

Cheah and de Jesus are acquitted of all charges stemming from Operation Car Wash. 

 

February 2024: 

 

Seatrium reaches in-principle settlement agreements with Brazilian authorities, including a settlement payment of 670.7 million Brazilian real (S$182.4 million) and a S$82.4 million provision for indemnity to Keppel.

 

TWO former executives, including a top executive, of offshore and marine (O& M) giant Seatrium (previously known as Sembcorp Marine), were charged with corruption offences on Thursday (Mar 28) for paying bribes of more than S$20 million to further the company&rsquo s business interests in Brazil.

 

Wong Weng Sun, 62, was charged at Singapore&rsquo s State Court with five counts of conspiring to corruptly give gratification to a former consultant with Seatrium, Guilherme Esteves de Jesus. Wong was president, executive director and chief executive of Sembcorp Marine for 14 years until he stepped down from the firm in February 2023.

 

He allegedly bribed the consultant to advance the business interests of Seatrium&rsquo s subsidiaries, including Jurong Shipyard, on several occasions between 2009 and 2014. Wong, who was also Jurong Shipyard&rsquo s managing director at the time of the offences, was charged with obstruction of justice.

 

He stepped down from Seatrium last year, following the merger of Sembcorp Marine and Keppel&rsquo s O& M unit.

 

Lee Fook Kang, 75, who was Jurong Shipyard&rsquo s senior general manager at the time of the offences, also faces the same five bribery charges.

 

Singapore&rsquo s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General&rsquo s Chambers (AGC) said in a joint statement that the public prosecutor is 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.

 

Wong is represented by lawyers from WongPartnership, while Lee is represented by lawyers from Matthew Chiong Partnership. Thursday&rsquo s first mention hearing on the charges was heard before District Judge Eugene Teo.

 

Wong and Lee are out on bail of S$210,000 and S$200,000, respectively.

 

Both defence counsels asked for an adjournment in court proceedings, with Wong&rsquo s lawyer noting that his client was charged on Mar 27 for offences relating to events that took place 10 to 15 years ago.

 

The lawyer also asked for an adjournment of eight weeks, stating that he needed some time to take his client&rsquo s instructions. Deputy public prosecutor Alan Loh said the prosecution had no objections to this.

 

Wong allegedly instructed two employees of Seatrium in 2014 to remove an e-mail sent by de Jesus containing evidence of bribes that de Jesus had given or would be giving to other persons.

 

Under 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 670.7 million Brazilian real (S$181 million), as part of 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&rsquo 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 deferred prosecution agreement 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.

 

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, CPIB said it was &ldquo acting on information received&rdquo 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 &ldquo alleged irregularities&rdquo 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.

 

The next hearing for Wong and Lee is slated for May 23 at 9 am. The respective bails of the duo have been extended till then.