Neptune Orient Lines' unit, APL named in Taiwan corruption, fraud case but it's not announced in SGX?!
Upon reading about "APL among those named in Taiwan corruption, fraud case", I immediately check the "Company Announcements" section of SGX homepage for NOL. But no, I didn't find any related news issued by NOL about APL entangled in a corruption and fraud case in Taiwan (the latest released news by NOL was on 11/06/09 08:46:17 PM, NOTICE OF BOOK CLOSURE DATE FOR RIGHTS ISSUE.) So, shall we see SGX publicly inquire NOL about this case today?APL, a unit of Singapore-listed shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), has been named as one of the companies involved in a corruption and fraud case in Taiwan.
Reports say nearly 50 port and shipping company officials in Taiwan have been indicted on corruption and fraud charges, for falsifying data to claim money at the island's largest port.
According to an AFP report, the director and deputy director of the Kaohsiung Port Bureau are among those charged with forging companies' shipping data to claim more than US$9 million in performance incentives from the government.
AFP quotes Taiwanese prosecutors as saying that APL is allegedly involved in the case.
In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, NOL said it has no comments.
Taiwan's three major shippers -- Evergreen Marine Corp, Yang Ming Marine Transport and Wan Hai Lines -- are also alleged to be involved.
From Channel NewsAsia, "APL among those named in Taiwan corruption, fraud case".
Update: Well, kudos for NOL who did clarify this morning almost on 8:00 AM at SGX website. 
NOL clarified that (Quoted):Whilst 3 employees and 1 ex-employee of APL Taiwan are among the persons indicted or to be indicted on the aforesaid corruption and fraud charges, none of the NOL group companies (including APL) has been indicted on such charges. The Company denies any involvement in this matter.
The company has a firm policy and takes a serious view against, and does not condone, corruption and fraud.”
Beautifully said. Heh. The complete press release by NOL can be found here.
1 comments:
What a ridiculous statement by NOL. It is slicing a very thin definition by saying that while 4 of its current and former employees were indicted, technically the "company" was not.
Companies are not indicted for fraud charges -- people are. Perhaps this means that NOL will let these employees defend themselves and not provide any support.
It is hard to believe that the company was not aware of what was going on at higher levels than these employees. But maybe people at the top of NOL were not paying attention, or their internal auditors were not doing their jobs.
It is typical of NOL to hide behind statemens like this. Just as it did when it paid a $26 million fine to the U.S. government to settle charges of fraud and overcharging.
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