Singapore-based oilfield services company Swiber now has claims against the company totalling $288.8m. Swiber announced its liquidation in H1 2016, but then changed its mind, seeking judicial management instead.
More than $60m of new claims against the company emerged in Q4 2016. In December, three projects it had been working on in India for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were cancelled.
In early December several serving members of senior management, along with some former executives, were interviewed in Singapore by the Commercial Affairs Department amid concerns whether Swiber breached the local Securities & Futures Act.. Eight people were bailed. Executive chairman Raymond Goh was one of those questioned.
Singapore’s Business Times has also reported that three vessels on charter to Swiber, owned by a vehicle set up by RS Platou Finans Shipping under the Norwegian KS system, have been arrested in Singapore at the request of United Overseas Bank.
Swiber was criticized by the Singapore Exchange in November for failing to provide a “balanced and fair” announcement in relation to a $710m project award. Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department launched its investigation the same month, demanding access to all corporate secretarial documents, all stock exchange announcements and all accounting records.