SINGAPORE – Former Sembcorp Marine president and chief executive Wong Weng Sun has been acquitted of all six criminal charges brought against him over the company’s former operations in Brazil.
The acquittal came after prosecutors decided to issue Wong a stern warning in lieu of prosecution, following a review that took into account the dismissal of related criminal proceedings in Brazil against the agent at the centre of the case.
The State Courts granted Wong a discharge amounting to an acquittal on Sep 24, following an application by the prosecution.
Former Jurong Shipyard senior general manager Lee Fook Kang, who faced five corruption charges arising from the same case, was also given a stern warning and acquitted of all charges.
Wong had faced five charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and one charge of intentionally obstructing the course of justice under the Penal Code since March 2024.
“To the best of his knowledge, there are no further court proceedings pending against Mr Wong,” said WongPartnership, the law firm representing Wong, on Sept 24.
The firm added that Wong, who spent more than 30 years with Sembcorp Marine and rose from project engineer to president and CEO, had consistently denied involvement in any criminal wrongdoing.
Stern warnings
An Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) spokesperson said prosecutors decided to administer stern warnings to Wong and Lee in lieu of prosecution after carefully considering the facts and circumstances of the matter.
This included the dismissal of criminal proceedings in Brazil against Guilherme Esteves de Jesus, the Brazilian agent involved in the alleged bribery arrangements, which were related to the Singapore case.
The stern warnings covering all charges against Wong and Lee were administered by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on Sep 21.
Following the warnings, prosecutors applied for discharges amounting to acquittals in respect of all charges against both men. The court granted the applications on Sept 24.
The charges previously arose from investigations by CPIB into alleged corruption linked to Sembcorp Marine’s former business operations in Brazil and the sprawling Operation Car Wash probe.
The agency began investigating Sembcorp Marine – now known as Seatrium – and individuals from the company in May 2023. Wong and Lee were charged in March 2024.
At the time, Wong was accused of conspiring with Lee to corruptly give gratification to Esteves, a former consultant connected to Sembcorp Marine’s Brazil operations, for the benefit of various people in Brazil and to advance the business interests of the company’s subsidiaries there.
The five charges involved alleged payments made or agreed upon between 2009 and 2014, including payments intended for Brazilian officials, politicians and officers of state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
Wong was also accused of instructing two employees in 2014 to remove an e-mail from Esteves containing evidence of bribes that he had given or would be giving to others.
When Wong and Lee were charged, the AGC said it had considered the available evidence and assessed that there was sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution.
Separate from action against Seatrium
The criminal proceedings against Wong were separate from the action taken against Seatrium itself over the Brazil matter.
Seatrium entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the public prosecutor in July 2025 over corruption offences that occurred in Brazil. Under the agreement, the company is required to pay a US$110 million (S$140.7 million) financial penalty and make further improvements to its ethics and compliance programme.
The High Court approved the agreement in April. Up to US$53 million of payments made by Seatrium to Brazilian authorities can be credited against the penalty, leaving US$57 million payable to the Singapore authorities.
The case has its roots in Operation Car Wash, the wide-ranging Brazilian investigation into corruption involving Petrobras, contractors and political figures.
Sembcorp Marine combined with Keppel Offshore & Marine in 2023, with the enlarged company subsequently renamed Seatrium.
Wong thanked his family and friends for their support throughout what his lawyers described as an “incredibly stressful period”, as well as his legal team comprising senior counsel Tan Chee Meng, Paul Loy, Samuel Navindran and Calvin Ong of WongPartnership.
He “looks forward to moving on and putting this episode behind him”, the firm said. THE BUSINESS TIMES
