Singapore, Sept 23: A 51-year-old Indian national was on Thursday convicted of seven corruption and related charges for committing the offenses while working as a managing director of a department of an international shipping company here.
Ananthakrishnan Nanda had pleaded guilty to the charges — two under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
In November 2015 was introduced to Kunal Chadha, the director, and general manager of Marine Care Singapore, which supplies marine chemicals and equipment for the cleaning and maintenance of ships, The Straits Times newspaper reported.
Ananthakrishnan in December 2015 discussed with Chadha engaging Marine Care as a vendor for Aoxing, which was then planning to start a tank cleaning and optimisation programme to increase the cleanliness and efficiency of Sinochem vessels.
Chadha agreed that in return for deals from Aoxing and Sinochem, Marine Care would pay Ananthakrishnan’s company Sakura 10 per cent of the money it received from Aoxing and Sinochem.
“This was a reward paid to the accused for advancing Marine Care’s business interests with Aoxing,” the report quoted the prosecution as saying.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Victoria Ting and David Menon said Ananthakrishnan’s responsibilities while being the managing director of Aoxing Ship Management Singapore — a department of Sinochem Shipping Singapore that charters and operates ships — included liaising with other companies for goods and services to be supplied to the Sinochem vessels.
At the time, Ananthakrishnan also controlled other companies not affiliated with Aoxing and Sinochem, including Sakura Ship Management, Master Supplies and Logistics, and Master Manning Services and Logistics, according to court documents cited by the Singapore daily.
Ananthakrishnan after initially agreeing on the 10 per cent payout to Sakura, eventually arranged for his other company, Master Supplies and Logistics, to issue invoices corresponding to that amount.
Ananthakrishna is due to appear next in court in February 2023 for his mitigation and the prosecution’s sentencing submissions to be heard, reported The Straits Times.
For each corruption charge, he can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to SGD 100,000 (USD 70,412.63), or both.
He can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to SGD 500,000 (USD 352063.15) or both for each offense under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. (PTI)
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