The CPIB says that it has completed its investigations, and in consultation with the AGC, issued stern warnings to 6 individuals who were formerly senior management staff of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited.
The 6 will face no further prosecution, despite their role in conspiring to give bribes totalling about US$55 mil to foreign consultants, which was used to bribe Petrobras officials in return for contracts.
The 6 were never officially publicly named by Singapore agencies, including the CPIB.
Interestingly, in a press release in Dec 2018, CPIB stated that:
“Employees are expected to carry out their duties fairly instead of obtaining bribes in exchange for favours. Even if the bribe amount is as low as $1, they can be taken to task. Bribes of any amount or any kind will not be tolerated.”
The press release goes on to relate several examples involving blue-collar workers involved in cases of corruption.
One example describes a worker who charged with one count of corruptly attempting to obtain a gratification of $1, as an inducement for not delaying the collection of a container onto Jiang’s vehicle.
Another example describes 2 forklift truck operators employed by Cogent Container Depot Pte Ltd who were each charged with embarking on a course of conduct to obtain small value bribes from truck drivers at the company.
The CPIB rounded up its press release stating that “Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption”.
Regarding the Keppel case, the CPIB states that:
“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.”
No further details have been publicly disclosed.
