Rig builders risk fresh bribery charges as investigators nab Brazilian big fish

CEOs of construction giants have been caught.

It seems that Keppel Corp and SembCorp Marine are still in hot water over the oily corruption scandal at Petrobras.

Nicholas Teo of CMC Markets noted that the tide may turn against KepCorp and Sembmarine after investigators nabbed Marcelo Odebrecht, CEO of Brazilian construction giants Odebrect SA.

“While these allegations are not new and have been refuted by both Keppel and SembCorp Marine, new revelations may come with the arrest of Odebrecht, the biggest scalp so far in this brewing scandal,” Teo said.

Testimony released Friday by a Brazilian court said that Keppel Fels and Jurong Shipyard were part of a group of companies that paid bribes bag contracts for building 21 deep-water drilling vessels, which cost about $800 million each.