Two Singaporeans admitted in a court in the city state last week to illegally selling a Norwegian-made sonar system that was ultimately acquired by the Myanmar navy, the Straits Times reported Monday.
Hydronav Services sales manager Poiter Agus Kentjana, 57, and Wui Ong Chuan, 70, a director of the Singaporean firm, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of “cheating” and one charge under the island’s Strategic Goods (Control) Act, the newspaper reported.
According to prosecutors, Poiter and Wui conspired to mislead Norwegian firm Kongsberg Maritime, the maker of the seabed-mapping system, into believing that an Indonesian company would be its end-user. In fact, the system was first sold to Myanmar company Light of Universe for US$1.58 million, with the end user being the Myanmar Navy Hydrographic Center, which conducts survey activities in Myanmar waters, according to the newspaper.
On two previous occasions when the Myanmar Navy Hydrographic Center was listed as the end-user on application documents, Norwegian authorities refused to approve the export of the system, prompting Poiter to fraudulently list the Indonesian company as the end-user in a bid to get the shipment approved, the newspaper cited prosecutors as saying.
The system was shipped from Norway to Singapore on July 17, 2018 and exported to Myanmar three days later. The seabed-mapping tool uses two systems that require special permits in order to be exported under Singapore’s Strategic Goods (Control) Act. An investigation was launched after Singapore Customs officials were alerted to the fact that the permits had not been obtained.
Prosecutors are seeking fines of over $1 million from Hydronav and between $25,000 and $35,000 from each of the two men.
Sentencing is expected next month, the newspaper said.
While Norway is not a member of the European Union—which has imposed multiple sanctions and restrictions on doing business with Myanmar and the country’s military—it is sensitive the possibility of incurring EU sanctions, which were cited as a reason for Norwegian telecom firm Telenor’s sale of its Myanmar operation in 2021.
Singapore has come under the spotlight from Myanmar democracy activists recently for being a preferred financial center for the regime.
