The Singaporean government yesterday defended a decision not to prosecute key figures at Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) over a major bribery case involving payments to Brazil’s state-run energy company.
“Simply put, there is a lack of sufficient evidence, either documentary or through witnesses, which would establish any criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt against a specific individual,” Indranee Rajah, a minister in the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Office, told the city-state’s parliament.
Rajah’s comments came in response to parliamentary questions over Singapore’s decision not to press charges against six former senior managers of Keppel O&M for their alleged involvement in a bribery scandal that cost the company US$422 million in total fines.
Such a case is rare in Singapore, ranked fifth-least corrupt on Transparency International’s latest annual index.
Keppel O&M in 2017 agreed to pay US$422 million to end a US probe into illegal payments to officials of Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA. Keppel’s US unit pleaded guilty while the Singapore-based parent entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with the US government.
Sembcorp Marine, in which state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte is the biggest shareholder, agreed to acquire Keppel O&M last year.
Last month, Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau issued “stern warnings” to the six former senior managers of Keppel O&M in lieu of prosecution for offenses punishable under the corruption law.
The unnamed individuals allegedly had conspired to pay a total of US$55 million in bribes to foreign consultants involved in the company’s business interests in Brazil, the bureau said in a statement last month.
The agency cited the cross-jurisdiction nature and complexity of the case, along with difficulties in obtaining evidence for prosecution, for not taking further action.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS