Singapore court jails Indian-origin ex-minister to 12 months for graft

Singapore's Indian-origin former transport minister S Iswaran has been sentenced to 12 months jail on Thursday by the High Court for obtaining gifts worth about SGD 403,300 over seven years, from two businessmen he considered his friends.

The 62-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges relating to receiving gifts and one blocking justice on September 24, the first day of trial proceedings, cutting short what was set to be a protracted trial with 56 prosecution witnesses.

In sentencing, Justice Vincent Hoong said he had considered submissions on sentence from both prosecution and defence but was “ultimately unable to agree with both the positions taken”.

In his sentencing remarks, Justice Hoong emphasised that trust and confidence in public institutions are the bedrock of effective governance.

The judge added that the former minister abused the position to accept gifts worth about SGD 403,300 (USD313,200).

He said, “This can all too easily be undermined by a public servant who falls below standards of integrity and accountability.”

The judge said it was significant that Iswaran had made public statements rejecting the charges as false.

“In a letter to the Prime Minister, Iswaran said he rejected the charges and was innocent, and believed he would be acquitted. Thus, I have difficulty believing that he was remorseful,” The Straits Times quoted the Judge as saying.

As Justice Hoong addressed the court, Iswaran looked down and took notes.

The judge added, “The higher the office held by the offender as a public servant, the higher his level of culpability.”

He said such individuals set the tone of public servants in conducting themselves with high standards of integrity, and they must avoid any perception that they are susceptible to influence to financial benefits.

Iswaran's lead lawyer Davinder Singh had argued for no more than eight weeks' jail, while Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong sought a jail term of six to seven months.

“I'm of the view it is appropriate to impose a sentence in excess of both parties' positions,” said Justice Hoong, adding that taking the submission of either prosecution or defence would result in a “manifestly inadequate sentence”.

Justice Hoong noted certain aggravating factors such as the total duration of Iswaran's offending, the high office he occupied and the overall harm to public interest as well as trust in public institutions.

Iswaran's lawyers asked for the jail term to be deferred to October 7 and for Iswaran to surrender at 4 pm at the State Courts that day, as reported Channel News Asia.

However, he stressed that this is subject to the defence taking instructions from Iswaran, alluding to the possibility of an appeal.

The sentencing comes more than a year after details of the probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) first came to light, and 10 months after Iswaran was first charged in court.

Iswaran, a political veteran from the ruling People's Action Party, resigned from office in January and made a voluntary disgorgement of SGD 380,305.95 to the state a day before his intended trial on September 24. This refers to giving up illegally obtained gains and differs from restitution.

Gifts such as bottles of whisky and wine, golf clubs and a Brompton bicycle were also seized from him.

Between November 2015 and December 2022, Iswaran obtained valuables like musical, football and Formula 1 tickets from Singapore GP majority shareholder Ong Beng Seng, as well as bottles of whisky and wine from construction boss Lum Kok Seng.

This was while Iswaran held portfolios that had official dealings with the two men, said the prosecution.

Lum's company, Lum Chang Building Contractors, entered into a contract worth SGD 325 million with the Land Transport Authority in 2016 for works on the Tanah Merah MRT Station and its viaducts.

Iswaran became transport minister in May 2021.

Ong, a hotelier, was linked to two facilitation agreements between the Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to handle the annual Singapore Formula 1 race.

Iswaran was chairman of the F1 Steering Committee, established by the government to oversee F1 as a national project.

He was also minister for industry in the Ministry of Trade and Industry from October 2015 to April 2018, with STB under him. He was also minister-in-charge of trade relations from May 2018 until January 2024 when he resigned from office.

The prosecution accepted, however, that Iswaran did not intervene in any decisions relating to Lum's company contract, and that there was "nothing to suggest that the F1 contracts were structured to the disadvantage of the government".

The case came to light in May 2023 when CPIB was investigating a separate matter linked to Ong's associates and came across a flight manifest for an outbound flight on Ong's private jet.

Iswaran was on that flight worth SGD 10,410 from Singapore to Doha on December 10, 2022. His trip there, his one-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha and his business class flight back were at the expense of Singapore GP, on Ong's instructions.

Iswaran did not declare the trip to the government. He applied for urgent personal leave to take it on Ong's offer to join him as his guest.

When Ong caught wind of CPIB's seizure of the flight manifest, he called Iswaran and told him about this. Iswaran later asked Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the trip's expenses, and later paid SGD 5,700 for the return flight.

This forms the charge of obstructing justice.