Several former key executives of Keppel Corp and its offshore and marine units have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the corruption scandal involving Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), The Straits Times reported on Friday.
The executives include Tay Kim Hock, former president and chief executive of Keppel Fels Brasil, a wholly owned unit of Keppel O&M. He was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and is currently out on bail, the report said.
The report further added that more than five others connected with the case are also out on bail.
The U.S. Department of Justice, last year, imposed a penalty of US$422 million on Keppel O&M.
The fine was due to the company's involvement in a scheme to pay bribes to Petrobras officials and the then governing political party in Brazil, the Workers Party of Brazil between 2001 to 2014, the company said in a statement on December 23.
Also Read: Singapore's Temasek weighing UOB's stake in Marco Polo
Keppel said it undertook a thorough internal investigation and identified certain suspicious transactions involving KOM's former agent in Brazil, Zwi Skornicki.
The fine also hurt Keppel Corp's full-year profit, which 72 percent plunge in full-year profit owing to the penalty imposed on its unit.
The Offshore & Marine Division incurred a net loss of S$835 million for in the fiscal 2017, compared to a net profit of S$29 million an year earlier.
The former executives of Keppel had been called in by the Singapore authorities to assist with investigations into the scandal, the report said.
