Singapore: Ex-transport minister S Iswaran not facing corruption charges, convicted on five counts

Hearing a case against Singapore’s former transport minister of Indian-origin S Iswaran on Tuesday, the High Court convicted the 62-year-old on five counts after he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of obtaining gifts as a public servant. Iswaran was not facing corruption charges. As per reports, Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong said the prosecution would replace two corruption charges with two lesser charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code.

Soon after that, Iswaran admitted to four charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which forbids all public servants from obtaining any valuable thing from someone involved with them in an official capacity, and one charge of obstruction of justice.

As per CNA, another 30 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing.

Iswaran’s charges relate to his interactions with property tycoon Ong Beng Seng and construction firm boss Lum Kok Seng. Both businessmen have not been charged. The valuables involved in all the charges include tickets to theatre shows, football matches and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, whisky, international flights and a hotel stay.

Also read: Bicycle and golf clubs: Alleged freebies worth SGD 19K fetch 8 new charges for Iswaran

The amount involved is more than SGD 400,000.

While the prosecution sought a jail term of six to seven months for the former minister, his defence has argued for no more than eight weeks in prison, only if a jail term is warranted.

Interestingly, Iswaran, who pleaded guilty at the start of trial, for months said he would contest to clear his name.

What are the amended charges?

In the first amended charge under Section 165, the former lawmaker is now charged with obtaining from Ong, “for no consideration”, 10 Green Room tickets (worth SGD 48,150), eight Twenty3 tickets (worth SGD 56,068) and 32 general admission tickets (worth SGD 41,216) for the Singapore F1 Grand Prix in September 2022, CNA reported.

In the second amended charge, also under Section 165, the ex-transport minister is now charged with obtaining from Ong, again “for no consideration”, a private jet flight to Qatar (worth about SGD 10,410), a night’s stay in Four Seasons Doha (worth about SGD 4,737), and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore (worth about SGD 5,700) in December 2022.

The original charges, which were filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, had stated that the former minister had “corruptly” obtained these gifts from Ong in exchange for aiding Ong’s business interests.

Also read: Indian-origin Singapore minister Iswaran resigns over corruption charges; vows to clear name

Iswaran’s trial is the first ministerial corruption trial in Singapore in nearly half a century.

Former cabinet minister Wee Toon Boon was found guilty of accepting gifts in exchange for favour to a businessperson in. He was jailed in 1975.

(With inputs from PTI.)