Former Singapore transport minister Iswaran pleads guilty after charges amended

SINGAPORE: Former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Sep 24) on what was expected to be the first day of his criminal trial, after saying for months he would be contesting the case to clear his name.
The 62-year-old 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.
Another 30 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
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. The amount involved is more than S$400,000 (over US$300,000).
The hearing started promptly at 10am, with the prosecution tendering a fresh set of charges.
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.
Iswaran’s defence lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, then confirmed that his client would be pleading guilty.
“My client will be taking a certain course of action in view of the fact that the prosecution is no longer proceeding on charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Mr Singh told the court, presided over by Justice Vincent Hoong.
After the charges were read to him, Iswaran was asked how he pleaded to them.
“Your Honour, I plead guilty,” he said.
Iswaran made a disgorgement of S$380,305.95 (US$294,845) to the state on Monday, Mr Tai told the court. Bottles of whisky and wine, golf clubs and a Brompton bicycle were also seized from him.
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 two amended charges involve Mr Ong.
The first charge that was amended originally said that in September 2022, Iswaran corruptly obtained from Mr Ong, through Singapore GP Pte Ltd, 10 Green Room tickets (worth S$48,150), eight Twenty3 tickets (worth S$56,068) and 32 general admission tickets (worth S$41,216) for the 2022 Singapore F1 Grand Prix.
This original charge stated that Iswaran did this as inducement for advancing Mr Ong’s business interests in relation to the facilitation agreement between Singapore GP Pte Ltd and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The second amended charge originally said that in December 2022, Iswaran corruptly obtained from Mr Ong a flight from Singapore to Doha on his private plane (worth about S$10,410), a night’s stay in Four Seasons Doha (worth about S$4,737), and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore (worth about S$5,700).
This original charge stated that Iswaran did this as inducement for advancing Mr Ong’s business interests in relation to the facilitation agreement between Singapore GP and the STB, and a proposal for a contract with STB to establish the ABBA Voyage virtual concert in Singapore.
Both charges were amended to state that Iswaran obtained the valuables as a public servant.
The earliest of Iswaran’s charges dates back to November 2015, when he was minister for trade and industry. He was transport minister and minister-in-charge of trade relations when the corruption probe against him became public in July 2023.
Iswaran resigned from his government positions and the People’s Action Party in January, after being notified of the criminal charges against him.
The prosecution is led by Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong, with Chief Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong, and Deputy Public Prosecutors Kelvin Chong, Sarah Siaw and Eugene Phua.
Iswaran is being defended by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, Mr Navin Thevar, Mr Rajvinder Singh, Ms Sumedha Madhusudhanan and Ms Sheiffa Safi Shirbeeni of Davinder Singh Chambers.
Mr Singh had described Mr Ong and Mr Lum as “very, very dear and close friends” of Iswaran, and said his client did not know nor suspect that gifts from them were “veiled gratification”.
In the months before, the defence clashed with the prosecution when it first sought a joint trial of all Iswaran’s charges – as opposed to two separate trials – and then tried to obtain all witness statements from the prosecution.
Iswaran succeeded in having his case heard in a single trial, but failed in multiple attempts to get the prosecution to hand over all forms of statements, including draft statements, from the witnesses it intends to call.
Iswaran faces a maximum jail term of seven years for obstructing justice under Section 204A of the Penal Code.
He faces a maximum jail term of two years for obtaining a valuable thing as a public servant under Section 165 of the Penal Code. He can also be fined for the offences.