Bangkok, September 23, An Indian national, age 51, was found guilty on Thursday of seven corruption-related offences after having carried them out while serving as the managing director of a division of an international shipping company in this country.
Two counts under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act were brought against Ananthakrishnan Nanda, who pleaded guilty to them.
Kunal Chadha, the director and general manager of Marine Care Singapore, which provides marine chemicals and equipment for the cleaning and maintenance of ships, was introduced to Ananthakrishnan Nand in November 2015.
In order to improve the efficiency and cleanliness of Sinochem vessels, Ananthakrishnan and Chadha discussed hiring Marine Care as a vendor for Aoxing in December 2015. At the time, Aoxing was planning to launch a tank cleaning and optimization programme.
In exchange for deals with Aoxing and Sinochem, Chadha agreed to pay Ananthakrishnan’s business Sakura 10% of the money it made 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.
Ananthakrishnan’s duties as managing director of Aoxing Ship Management Singapore, a division of Sinochem Shipping Singapore that charters and operates ships, according to Deputy Public Prosecutors Victoria Ting and David Menon, included coordinating with other businesses for the supply of goods and services to the Sinochem vessels.
According to court records, Ananthakrishnan also had control over other businesses at the time that wasn’t connected to Aoxing and Sinochem, like Sakura Ship Management, Master Supplies and Logistics, and Master Manning Services and Logistics.
Ananthakrishnan eventually arranged for his other company, Master Supplies and Logistics, to issue invoices corresponding to that amount after initially agreeing on the 10% payout to Sakura.
Ananthakrishna will next appear in court in February 2023 to present his mitigation and the prosecution’s sentencing arguments.
He faces a maximum five-year prison sentence, a maximum fine of SGD 100,000 (USD 70,412.63), or both for each count of corruption.
Under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, he may receive a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to SGD 500,000 (USD 352063.15), or both for each offence.
