Singapore ex-minister S. Iswaran slapped with fresh corruption charges
Singapore's former transport minister S. Iswaran was hit with eight fresh charges on Monday amid a corruption probe that has rocked the city state, with the new counts involving about S$19,000 (US$14,200) worth of valuable items he allegedly obtained, including bottles of whisky, golf clubs and a bicycle.
Iswaran, previously a senior politician in the long-ruling People's Action Party, now faces 35 charges in total, up from the initial 27. These include accepting gratifications as a public servant, corruption, and the obstruction of justice.
He has pleaded not guilty to the additional charges, according to local media reports.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Iswaran is accused of receiving the items from Lum Kok Seng, managing director of a company involved in the construction of an MRT station. The Mass Rapid Transit system is the island country's principal mode of railway transport.
The alleged offences took place sometime between November 2021 and November 2022, the city state's anti-corruption watchdog said.
The charges fall under Section 165 of Singapore's Penal Code, which prohibits public servants from accepting gifts from someone they work with in an official capacity.
"Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. Any person who is convicted under section 165 of the Penal Code can be fined or sentenced to imprisonment of up to two years or both," the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said in a statement.
Iswaran, widely credited with bringing Formula One racing to the city state, was hit with a raft of corruption and bribery charges at a court hearing in January, ending months of public speculation about the case, which first came to light in July last year. He denies the charges.
He subsequently resigned from his positions as transport minister and minister-in-charge of trade relations and stepped down as a member of parliament.
Iswaran is accused of receiving bribes with a total value of close to S$400,000 (US$298,000) from billionaire Ong Beng Seng, authorities said in a statement in January.
Some of the bribes were allegedly given to advance Ong's business interests in matters related to a contract between Singapore Grand Prix and the country's tourism board, the watchdog said.
Among the bribes Iswaran is accused of taking include flights on Ong's private plane and tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix, football matches, and musical show "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child" in Britain.
The 50 tickets he allegedly secured to the Singapore Grand Prix were worth around S$145,000 (US$108,000), while a trip on Ong's private jet from Singapore to Doha was valued at about S$10,410.
In a letter, Iswaran earlier rejected the charges and allegations made against him, maintaining his innocence.
If found guilty, the former top official could be fined up to S$100,000 or face a jail term of up to seven years, or both. For the obstruction of justice, he could be fined or sentenced to seven years in prison, or both.
Iswaran returned to Singapore last week after being granted a 16-day extension to a trip to Australia to help his son settle into university, due to contracting a respiratory illness.
The high-profile case emerged in July when Singapore's corruption watchdog revealed Iswaran was assisting with an investigation, sending shock waves through the city state.
On the same day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ordered Iswaran to take a leave of absence, appointing Chee Hong Tat, senior minister of state, as acting transport minister.
Both Ong and Iswaran were arrested shortly after. The investigation was among a series of political scandals that rocked the city state last year, from a probe into the rented state properties of two other ministers to the speaker of parliament and three other politicians, including two from the opposition, resigning over two separate extramarital affairs.
Singapore has long prided itself on being corruption free, consistently ranking highly on global anti-corruption indexes. It was named the fifth-least corrupt country in the world by Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, just behind several Nordic countries and New Zealand.
Singapore's prime minister-in-waiting Lawrence Wong told local media in January that the party's "stance on corruption is non-negotiable. This is part of our DNA. There can be no compromise nor relaxation, no budging on this, no matter the political price."
He also assured citizens that the leadership succession "remains on track". Prime Minister Lee has said he will hand over power to Wong, his anointed successor, by November when the PAP marks its 70th anniversary and the city state is set to hold its next national polls.
It will be the country's 15th general election, with Lee having led the party in the last four polls.
Iswaran had been involved in politics since 1997 and was appointed to Lee's cabinet in 2006.
Before his foray into politics, he held senior positions within the bureaucracy as a member of the prestigious Administrative Service, on top of high-ranking roles at state-linked enterprises, such as Temasek Holdings.
Iswaran had served as the leading representative for the PAP's five-person MP slate in the West Coast group representative constituency, which experienced a closely contested battle during the last general election in 2020.
He eventually secured victory, obtaining 51.68 per cent of the vote.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
