CPIB’s decision not to prosecute 6 former senior management staff of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd
February 1st, 2023 | 
Author: 
In this commentary published in Singapore Law Watch, I analyse the (Singapore) Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s recent decision not to prosecute six former senior management staff of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (KOM) for US$55 million in bribes paid to Brazilian officials.
I argue that given the large amount of evidence available of the bribery scheme, “it is difficult to appreciate the decision not to prosecute based on the CPIB’s limited explanation. Add to this the fact that KOM itself has openly admitted its involvement in the bribery and paid a massive US$422 million fine; this is one of the largest bribery scandals in Singapore’s history; the corrupt acts involved the wholly owned subsidiary of a Singapore public listed company; senior management of KOM were implicated; the pattern of criminal conduct extended over a decade; and huge sums in bribes were involved.”
I note that “failure to prosecute cases like the present without strong justification, when the facts appear glaring, is highly damaging”. The CPIB’s press release giving broad reasons for the non-prosecution decision raises more questions than answers. I suggest that since incorruptibility is a foundational value for Singapore, the authorities should instead give a detailed justification for the decision.
Among other observations, I conclude, “when it comes to our national commitment to incorruptibility and the rule of law, we will be judged not just by what we say, but equally by what we do.”
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“Questions That Must Be Asked
The CPIB’s decision may well be justified for reasons which have not been fully explained in its overly general press release. Whether that is so will very much depend on the answers to some key questions.
(a) With such extensive evidence already available, what exactly is the missing evidence against the six individuals, if any, without which an effective prosecution cannot be mounted?
(b) Have none of the six individuals made any admission(s) or given helpful evidence to the CPIB in respect of that missing evidence?
(c) Is that evidence not available as part of the “voluminous evidence and information” that KOM uncovered as part of its “thorough internal investigation” or through the CPIB’s own investigations, including using digital forensics tools?
(d) Who are the so-called “key witnesses” who are located overseas? Even if they are not named, what was their role in the bribery, and is their evidence so crucial that a conviction cannot be secured without their testimony?
(e) To the extent that “many of the documents are located in different jurisdictions”, are they not part of the “foreign documents” that KOM obtained and forwarded to the DOJ? At any rate, how important are these foreign documents to secure a conviction, and why?
(f) If the foreign evidence is indeed crucial, has assistance been sought from foreign authorities? If so, has such assistance been refused?
(g) Is the evidence in this case such that not even a single individual was sufficiently blameworthy to warrant a prosecution?
To read the full article: [LINK]
* Facebook post by Harpreet Singh Nehal.
Posted in 
It’s obvious that not a single dollar came out of any of the 6.
The usd 55m got to come from & approved by somebody at the very top of the food chain.
This is the somebody that they’re protecting.
Next year world corruption raking will probably drop further unless of course those just above or below 5th also caught more or bigger corrupted cases.
Of course, it wouldn’t affect PAP salary increase whatsoever.
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Is the meritocracy of CPIB based on number of huge cases to play down ? The more CPIB holds back to prosecute the senior staff, confirms that there is a huge skeleton kept in the closet. Huge bribery case with no one prosecuted.
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It’s simply CPIB cooking up a real lousy excuse and nothing else. Just like PAP telling lies about some supposedly “majority” of new citizens doing NS and not daring to reveal the numbers who did not do NS. Or telling cock and bull about not revealing the building cocts of BTOs as they aren’t “meaningful”.
We can clearly see for ourselves just how untrustworthy this government is. Relying on excuses and lies to not reveal information, you think we don’t know you got things to hide ah?
Send them a clear signal for when the next election is announced!
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Foreign knows we got money.
So set up trap!”ketok”(Scam) greedy fools!
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I think country deteriorated to become rule by man and not rule by law anymore
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I think what is sph doing ar why reporter no go interview cpib or keppel ar why reporter all write fairy tales only ar
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I think why oppo file question to ask people in parliment ar instead of asking cpib or keppel or the police ar is it because this is all the doing of people in parliment
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Did this funny business take place when Ong Ye Kung worked in Keppel? That’s why nothing more than a stern warning?
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I think accounting system very wrong millions gone and directors all don’t know about it ar
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In the minds of the public, the most likely reason is that CPIB is protecting some higher ups who authorised this bribe. It is beholden of the government to clear up this possibility. We do not wish Indranee to give us the ‘facts’, she should get the six to testify if they had been instructed to act as they did and who did. Given the character to Civil Servants, it is highly unlikely they acted on their own initiative. S there is 99 percent likelihood some one at the top is responsible. Question is WHO?
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If the skeleton is still in the closet, then the top most person
for the episode or signed must answer. Who will that be?
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for 100% certainty there is cover up, or attempt to cover up.
the corruption is not in the S$1 or S$10 or S$100 or the S$1k or the S$10k or the S$100k range. the corruption is in MILLIONS.
all sinkies who have ever worked a single day shall know in any company, big or small, spending even a cent needs to be accounted for. and depending on the amount spent, the approval level goes up. at the MILLIONS level, can it happen that the top echelon folks don’t know? unlikely.
the chairman of keppel when the corruption took place was pap lee boon yang.
there is cover up. this is a shitty thing to happen. under pap lky days, when pap lky was in power, pap lee boon yang would have to take poison.
today under pap lky son the chief clown. what to expect? hahaha. expect cover up. that is why the fraud in sph is also a soon to be cover up. because chairman when the fraud took place was pap khaw boon wan.
if sinkies think pap lee boon yang or pap khaw boon wan is going to get their board members and their ceos to call a press conference take a bow apologise and commit hara-kiri, too bad, it ain’t going to happen.
pap folks all lie. all of them. their lies are so long even a telephone book sized book isn’t thick enough to document.
remember liew mun leong? the pap member who lied to pap prosecutors in order to fix his maid? up to today no sound no fury. liew mun leong is every day at home enjoying the S$m he was paid by pap companies. just because pap chief clown wife wrote facebook praising him.
this is why pap must be voted out of power quickly in order to preserve integrity in our once great small island nation. there is no other way.
Tech: Err… Keppel has an office in US of A and maybe even Brazil. So could it be possible that the honchos in Sinkieland knows nothing about the corrupt transactions since the US honchos or Brazil ones could have made the decision?
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I think samsung got kenna raid and go jail with President this one like a walk in the park ar
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I think president hair attire blocking both eyes like both closed not suitable for the post
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I think m$ m$ paid to shell company for fake services is not good enough evidence for cpib ar what cock and bull who certified these m$ ar where corporate governance ar sgx should delist such public company for the sake of public interest ar
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Utterly unbelievable that $55M of funds can to given out without the Keppel Board not knowing about it or approving it.
Certainly CPIB has taken instruction from the PM, since they report to him.
And Loony’s wife runs Temasik, which owns Keppel, so join the dots and you know who is directing the wayang kulit show.
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“We can get you the facts. But let me say this: what is the point behind the question? Because it is ultimately WE who make the decision (to prosecute) and there is nothing you can do about it!”
Sounds familiar? lol
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Yes, but nothing wrong with that answer.
1. WHO blew up the nord stream pipeline ? (Watch the video discussion)
https://bit.ly/3SuWKMa
Your Americunt Ma$ter of all CON In God We Tru$t Biden refused to answer question on WHO blew up the nord stream pipeline.
Sounds familiar ?
To the 8000+ readers, please distribute and share this news.
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So, is your Americunt Ma$ter Joe Biden protecting the Army General who order the destruction of the Nord stream pipeline ?
1. WHO blew up the nord stream pipeline ? (Watch the video discussion)
https://bit.ly/3SuWKMa
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I think any in project management will know if any purchase order issued will have to make reference to the contract’s requirement and knowingly issue a contract for nothing related to the contract’s requirement by a GLC is laughable and this by itself is of no offense leh
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I think guys I given up on this rat infested motel nation good luck to you all and good bye by the way the mole tan king kong should be ban from posting at this site
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I think what is the auditor of ISO company doing ar no doubt useless auditors but should at least revoke their iso certificate now ma plus pfoma should make keppel remove their fake news claim of corporate governance from their web page ar
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So the six Keppel employees are let off, in fact protected. The real people who are protected are those in power who authorised this corruption. If indeed there are higher ups who let this take place, they should be ashamed for their cowardice. In this case we need to assume some higher ups are involved unless they unequivocally clear their name. This suspicion will persist for generations!
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Now they say there is not enough evidence. Just need to tell everyone who signed the approvals.
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Hm… I at times do wonder if she really believes in what she herself has been shitting.
And the dafts swallow it bait, hook and sinker?
Anyone expecting something different in this wayng session should go get their heads checked, maybe not enough booster shots?
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The question is now an internal one not involving foreigners. It is between the six and some shadowy individual/s hiding behind a cloud. These six ought to be interrogated to expose anyone higher up who authorised this. No need for those foreigners.
It is a shame if some coward is running the company. The question arises if such cowards could be allowed to run the CPIB the AGC the courts etc.
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“…..missing evidence against the six……”
Aiyo how to explain……the missing evidence must be they are NOT connected to those at the top…….
Since they are connected……so must be like this…..
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there is surely someone important involved at the top of the food chain
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