Eight former directors of collapsed Singapore offshore vessel operator Swiber Holdings have been charged with making false claims in relation to a major contract win in West Africa.
In late 2014, the group announced that it had secured a $710m project award. However, Swiber had signed only a letter of intent authorising it to spend up to $2m.
The charges follow a joint investigation conducted by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The directors each face one charge under Section 199(b)(ii) read with Section 331(1) of the Securities and Futures Act for their roles in connection to the alleged false statement by Swiber.
Five former Swiber directors – Raymond Goh, Francies Wong Chin Sing, Leonard Tay Gim Sin, Nitish Gupta and Yeo Chee Neng – also face additional charges over failing to disclose that the company had lost a major contract.
They each face one additional charge under Section 203(2), read with Section 331(1) of the SFA, for failing to disclose that Brunei Shell Petroleum Co had served Swiber with a notice of termination for the Champion Waterflood Project.
“The termination is information that had to be disclosed to avoid the establishment of a false market in Swiber securities, and thus a required disclosure under Rule 703(1)(a) of the SGX Mainboard Listing Rules,” the Singapore Police Force said.
Separately, former Swiber CEO Yeo has also been charged with insider trading of Swiber debentures, a form of securities, and breaches relating to notification of his interest in Swiber debentures.
“Between May and June 2016, Yeo, while allegedly in possession of non-public and material information relating to Swiber’s financial difficulties, had communicated such information to his wife on two occasions and procured his wife to sell their joint holdings in Swiber debentures on one occasion,” Singapore Police Force said.
For doing so, he faces three insider trading charges and four charges for his “alleged reckless failure to give notice in writing to Swiber of his interest and changes in his Swiber debentures on four occasions between 2014 and 2016”.
If convicted, the offenders face prison terms of two to seven years, a fine not exceeding $250,000, or both, on each charge.
Swiber filed for liquidation in July 2016. Facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, it was reported in Singapore as “the biggest local name to fall victim to the slump in oil prices”.
The company had just 10 vessels in 2006 when it listed and expanded to own and operate a fleet of over 50 vessels, with more than 2,700 employees across South East Asia and other countries.
