Singapore minister charged with corruption, resigns, in rare case

[January 18, 2024]  By Xinghui Kok

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's Transport Minister S. Iswaran was charged with 27 offences in a graft investigation, the anti-corruption agency said on Thursday, in one of the highest-profile cases involving a minister in the Asian financial hub in decades.

In a resignation letter dated Tuesday but published by the prime minister's office on Thursday, Iswaran said he rejected the charges and "will now focus on clearing my name".

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said Iswaran, who was arrested in July last year, was alleged to have obtained kickbacks worth S$384,340.98 ($286,181) from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, partly to advance Ong's business interests.

Charge sheets show the favors include tickets to football matches, musicals, a flight on Ong's private plane and tickets to the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix. Iswaran was advisor to the Grand Prix's steering committee, while Ong owns the rights to the race.

Iswaran faces a total of 27 charges, including corruption and obstructing the course of justice, the CPIB said in a statement.

If convicted of corruption, he could be fined up to S$100,000 or face seven years in prison.

There was no immediate response to emails seeking comment from Ong's office. The property tycoon was also arrested in July as part of the corruption probe. He has not been charged.

The case has gripped Singapore, a major Asian financial hub that prides itself on a squeaky clean government that is rarely affected by graft and scandals involving political leaders.

Civil servants are highly paid to discourage corruption. The annual salary of many cabinet ministers exceeds S$1 million.

In 2022, Transparency International ranked the city-state the fifth least corrupt country in its International Corruption Perceptions Index of 180 nations.

RULING PARTY HIT

Iswaran, 61, joined Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's cabinet as a junior minister in 2006 and held trade and communications portfolios before becoming transport minister in May 2021.

S. Iswaran, Singapore's former transport minister, arrives at the State Courts in Singapore, January 18, 2024. Kelvin Chng/THE STRAITS TIMES/Handout via REUTERS

The last corruption case involving a minister was in 1986 when the national development minister was investigated for allegedly accepting bribes. The minister died before he could be charged in court.

Singapore is due to hold elections by 2025. In August, Lee admitted his ruling People's Action Party (PAP) had taken a hit over the graft probe and the resignations of two senior PAP lawmakers on account of an "inappropriate relationship".

The party is also due for a leadership transition with Lee promising to hand the baton to his successor Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong by November.

Addressing local media on Thursday, Wong acknowledged the graft case's negative impact on the PAP but said it would not affect leadership transition plans.

"We are disappointed by what has happened. We are saddened. We are disappointed that Iswaran had to leave politics under these circumstances. But the PAP stance on corruption is non-negotiable," said Wong.

"We have announced that the leadership transition will take place before the next general election and before the party conference this year. This plan remains on track."

Referring to Iswaran's case at a PAP event last November, Lee said the party must "show Singaporeans and the world that after half a century in government, the PAP’s standards remain as high as ever."

($1 = 1.3430 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Xinghui Kok; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Miral Fahmy)

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