On December 9, 2020, the World Bank Group announced the six-month debarment of Jason Electronics (Pte) Ltd., a wholesaler of marine equipment based in Singapore, in connection with a “fraudulent practice” in its bid to work on the Urban Resilience Project in Bangladesh, a plan to “strengthen the capacity of government agencies to respond to emergency events and reduce the vulnerability of new building construction to natural disasters.” Specifically, the World Bank stated that Jason Electronics failed to disclose an agreement to pay a commission and fee to a local agent during the bidding process.
As part of its settlement, Jason Electronics received a debarment of six months. The World Bank stated this was a reduced period of debarment due to Jason Electronics’ cooperation with the World Bank’s investigation and voluntary remedial actions. As a condition of release from its debarment, the company agreed to improve its integrity compliance program and continue to cooperate fully with the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency’s investigation.