Keppel Settles Long-Standing Bribery Case in Brazil

Singapore-based shipbuilder Keppel Offshore & Marine has reached a settlement agreement with Brazilian authorities in connection to a long-running bribery scheme during which a Keppel O&M agent paid millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil to win offshore contracts from Petrobras.

Under the agreement with the country’s Attorney-General and Comptroller General, Keppel O&M will pay $65 million in fines and damages to settle all matters in Brazil.

Keppel and its U.S. subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine USA (KOM USA), previously agreed in December 2017 to pay $422 million to resolve criminal charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore related to the matter.

Through a former agent of Keppel O&M in Brazil, Keppel paid approximately $55 million in bribes to Brazilian officials to win multiple contracts with Petrobras. Keppel then hid the payments.

With the agreement, Keppel said it does not expect any further grounds for liability in Brazil in the case.

Earlier, on in August 2017, a former senior member of Keppel O&M’s legal department pleaded to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the Eastern District of New York.