Seven linked to Keppel Fels face corruption charges

Seven people linked to Singapore shipbuilding firm Keppel Fels were charged yesterday over multiple corruption-related offences.

Alvin Lim Wee Lun, 40, who was working as a yard manager at the company, was charged with 46 counts of conspiring with two other individuals to obtain bribes to advance the business interests of multiple subcontractors.

Lim's co-conspirators allegedly included Rajavikraman Jayapandian, 45, a project director at industrial manufacturing firm Rotary Offshore Solutions, and Goh Ngak Eng, 54, a director at Megamarine Services, which deals in marine engines.

The offences, which included taking bribes in exchange for furthering the business interests of three companies, were committed between 2014 and 2017.

The trio are alleged to have worked together to obtain approximately $879,900 in bribes from three subcontractors, which they intended to share.

According to court documents, Goh allegedly acted as a middleman, helping to obtain the gratuities from the subcontractors. The money - which was handled by Goh - was then allegedly split between the trio.

Rajavikraman and Goh also face three additional corruption charges each for furthering the business interests of a marine equipment manufacturer with another company in the same line of business.

For helping to facilitate these business deals, Rajavikraman had received a monetary reward of around $7,000 from Goh.

Lim, Goh, and Rajavikraman are set to appear in court again on Nov 11.

A Keppel Fels spokesman said the company was aware that Lim was being charged with corruption and had dismissed him last year.

"We have extended our full cooperation to the authorities and are unable to comment further as court proceedings are ongoing. We take a serious view of any corrupt act and will not tolerate any employee conduct that is illegal," said the spokesman.

Separately, Ong Tun Chai, 48, an associate of Goh, faces 10 corruption charges for accepting a total of $15,100 from Goh as a reward for preparing fictitious invoices on a logistics company's letterhead.

Ong is also alleged to have fraudulently falsified papers belonging to a logistics company on 20 occasions and to have issued these papers to two subcontractors, to reflect that services were requested by the subcontractors when they were not.

He is due to appear in court again on Nov 4.

Also taken to task yesterday and charged over multiple corruption-related offences were the subcontractors who allegedly enlisted the help of Lim, Rajavikraman and Goh to advance their firms' business interests on various occasions.

They are U Keh Choon, 50, a director at maritime equipment company Titan Offshore Equipment, Stanley Goh Sheng Li, 33, a director at industrial supplies firm Spectrama Marine and Industrial Supplies, and Fatkullah Tiap, 59, managing director of engineering and consultancy company Growa.

U was charged over seven corruption-related offences for allegedly giving bribes worth $196,700 to the trio.

Stanley Goh Sheng Li was charged with 21 counts of corruptly giving bribes, amounting to approximately $190,900, while Fatkullah was charged with 18 counts of corruptly giving gratification amounting to around $492,300.

U and Fatkullah will appear in court on Nov 11 and Stanley Goh Sheng Li on Nov 13.

In a separate case in 2018, Keppel Offshore and Marine (Keppel O&M) - the parent company of Keppel Fels - was fined US$422 million (S$573 million) for its part in an international corruption scandal.

Court documents released by the United States Justice Department stated that Keppel O&M had "knowingly and wilfully conspired" to pay bribes as part of a "decade-long scheme" to win 13 contracts with Petrobras and Sete Brasil - two Brazilian oil companies that have been under investigation since 2014 in a massive graft probe dubbed "Operation Car Wash".

"Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption," said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in a statement yesterday.

"Companies are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures in areas such as procurement and internal audit to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their employees."

Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.