Former Singapore transport minister, S Iswaran, has pleaded guilty to five charges of accepting gifts worth thousands of dollars while in office. Iswaran, who resigned in January, initially faced 35 charges but pleaded guilty to reduce it to five. He admitted to receiving gifts such as tickets to shows, flights, and a bicycle from two businessmen, including property tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Iswaran is the first political officeholder in Singapore in nearly four decades to face trial for corruption.
In court, Iswaran expressed his guilt, stating, “Your Honour, I plead guilty.” He paid back 380,000 Singapore dollars to the state and will forfeit the received items. His case highlights Singapore’s strict regulations prohibiting civil servants and political officeholders from accepting valuable gifts exceeding 50 Singapore dollars in the course of their duties. Transparency International ranked Singapore as the world’s fifth least corrupt country in 2023.
The last corruption investigation involving a minister in Singapore was in 1986, when former Minister for National Development Teh Cheang Wan was accused of accepting bribes and took his own life before investigations could be completed. Iswaran’s case is significant as it comes amid the resignation of former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan Jin over an extramarital affair with a fellow governing party lawmaker who also resigned. Singapore authorities have been cracking down on corruption cases, and Iswaran’s trial sheds light on the rare occurrence of such high-profile corruption scandals in the city-state.
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Former Singapore Transport Minister Iswaran enters guilty plea in corruption trial | Latest Update on Graft Charges
