Govt should disclose status of probe into Keppel O&M corruption scandal, enact harsher penalties for bribery acts

Singapore’s largest oil rig builder, Keppel Offshore & Marine (O&M), was involved in an international corruption saga that took place between 2001 and 2014, with the bribes totalling up to US$55 million (S$74 million).

In December 2017, the criminal authorities of Brazil, Singapore and the United States reached an agreement and the US Department of Justice reported that Keppel O&M “knowingly and wilfully conspired” to pay bribes as part of a “decade-long scheme” to win 13 contracts with Petrobas and Sete Brasil.

On Dec 23 in 2017, TODAY reported that Keppel O&M will pay more than US$422 million (S$570 million) to resolve charges that it bribed Brazilian officials.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) issued a conditional warning then to Keppel O&M.

In 2018, Ms Indranee Rajah, then Senior Minister of State for Law, said that the offenders were still being investigated by the CPIB, and the Public Prosecutor will determine whether to prosecute them after investigations are completed.

It has been nearly three years and we have yet to hear any updates on the matter. 

The question that I have been asked frequently is whether there will eventually be any enforcement action against the individuals involved.

Regrettably, this case has tarnished Singapore's hard-earned reputation for low corruption, as well as its ranking in the  Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, which was painstakingly developed by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his pioneer leadership team.

The Keppel O&M case also highlighted the need to review the present anti-bribery laws that could be strengthened to better deter graft offences overseas.

Under Singapore’s Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), which is the country’s primary anti-corruption law that was enacted back in 1960, the monetary penalty for each charge is too low, given that bribe payments today can easily amount to millions of dollars.

Furthermore, the scope of the law should be widened so that those higher up in the corporate hierarchy and those lower down in the organisation, as well as their officially appointed agents, are held more accountable.

The penalties under the PCA now include the maximum fine of S$100,000 or a jail term of up to five years, or both.

If a transaction involves a government contract, the penalty is a fine of up to S$100,000 or a prison term of up to seven years, or both.

In comparison, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US contains higher maximum penalties.

For example, corporations are subject to a fine of up to US$2 million for each violation of the anti-bribery provisions of the Act.

In Britain, any organisation that breaches the provisions of the UK Bribery Act is liable for an unlimited fine.

I hope that the Singapore Government will provide an update on the status of the investigations into the long-standing Keppel O&M case as well as consider the proposal for enacting tougher laws to deter graft practices locally as well as overseas.

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Professor Sattar Bawany is the chief executive officer of the Disruptive Leadership Institute, a global research and executive-development firm.

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