US-based investment firm files suit against Keppel, SembMarine for Brazil bribery scandal

The bidding process was rigged from the start, says EIG Management.

Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Marine were among the defendants of a lawsuit filed by US-based investment firm EIG Management in relation to the bribery scandal at Brazil’s national oil company Petrobras.

Citing a report from Upstream, OCBC Investment Research noted that EIG has amended proceedings which were commenced against Petrobas earlier this year to include Keppel, SembMarine, and Odebrecht.

EIG alleged that the companies conspired to fraudulently induce funds managed by EIG to invest over US$221m to purchase equity in the now-bankrupt Sete Brasil. The lawsuit also claimed that the contract bidding process for the rigs “was rigged from the start”, and alleged that the yards agreed to pay bribes and kickbacks.

“This lawsuit is likely to be closely monitored as there are also other investment firms, like EIG, that invested in Sete Brasil,” OCBC Investment Research said.