In Parliament on Jan. 8, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Indranee Rajah reassured the public that the investigation into the Keppel corruption case was ongoing, and that it would take some time due to the complex nature of the case.

It has now come to light that some progress has been made in the authorities' investigation into the Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM) corruption case.

You are under arrest

It looks like things are finally heating up.

On Feb. 2, the Straits Times (ST) reported that at least six Keppel executives have been arrested in connection with the case.

The list reportedly includes Tay Kim Hock, the former president and chief executive of Keppel Fels Brasil from June 2000 to Oct. 2007. He is currently out on bail.

Keppel Fels Brasil is a wholly owned unit of KOM and based in Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest cities in Brazil. We don't have to remind you that Keppel's alleged offences were related to contracts in Brazil.

According to ST, some of the individuals had given statements to the CPIB as recently as last week and have appointed lawyers to represent them. The lawyers are from firms including WongPartnership and Withers KhattarWong.

The matter will be referred to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to decide if charges are to be filed.

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It is not known exactly when the arrests were made. Both AGC and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) reportedly declined to comment on the arrests when contacted by ST on Jan. 30.

According to a KOM spokesman on Feb. 1:

"We are unable to comment on any investigations by the authorities."

Looks like we're just getting started.

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Top image from Pixabay.