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Two People Linked to Singapore Drilling Contractor Sembcorp Marine Have Been Charged with Money Laundering and Corruption Related to a Drilling Rig Construction Contract with Brazilian Drilling Contractor Sete Brasil.
Sembcorp Marine announced on Monday (03) that the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil (MPF) filed a complaint against Guilherme Esteves de Jesus (GDJ) for money laundering and former employee Martin Cheah Kok Choon for money laundering and corruption in connection with certain contracts for the construction of drilling rigs signed by the company’s subsidiaries with Sete Brasil in 2012.
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Martin Cheah is the former president of Jurong Shipyard Aracruz Ltda (EJA), Brazilian subsidiary of SembMarine, whose employment with the SCM group was terminated in June 2015. The companies connected to GDJ were hired by the company’s subsidiaries as consultants in Brazil, with all those consulting contracts having been suspended, and remaining suspended, by the SCM group indefinitely.
The charges against Martin Cheah and GDJ by the MPF are personal and not against EJA.
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In light of these developments, the company stated it would submit a new suspicious transaction report to the Singapore Police Force Commercial Affairs Department.
Besides Martin Cheah, the company stated it was not aware of any other past or present employees of the company who were subject to ongoing investigations by Brazilian authorities related to Operation Car Wash.
Operation Car Wash
In 2012, the company’s subsidiaries signed multiple contracts for the construction of drilling rigs with the subsidiaries of Sete Brasil. The companies linked to Guilherme Esteves de Jesus were hired by the company’s subsidiaries as consultants in Brazil.
In February 2015, there were several media reports that, among others, Pedro Jose Barusco (PJB), former engineering manager at Petrobras, had made statements that illegal payments had been made in connection with contracts signed by Petrobras and/or Sete Brasil.
Following the publication of these media reports, the company established a Special Committee of the Board, which appointed legal consultants from Singapore and Brazil to conduct internal investigations and advise the company. The company announced on March 30, 2015, that it had received a copy of a plea bargain between PJB and Brazilian authorities, in which PJB made allegations against GDJ in connection with the contracts and that GDJ was arrested by Brazilian authorities in late March 2015.
In April 2017, GDJ was charged by Brazilian authorities, and he defended himself against the charges when his trial began in 2018.
All consulting service contracts provided to the company’s subsidiaries by companies connected to GDJ were suspended and remain suspended.
In July 2019, Brazilian authorities executed a search warrant at EJA in connection with ongoing investigations related to Operation Car Wash and against GDJ, who was arrested by the Brazilian Federal Police. The company also learned that the investigations leading to the execution of the search warrant at EJA had been expanded to include MCKC.
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