SINGAPORE, Sept 25 — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) expressed concerns yesterday about the challenges of proving corruption charges against former Singapore’s transport minister S. Iswaran. This is primarily because the parties involved, Iswaran and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, would need to implicate themselves to establish that corruption occurred.
As reported in CNA, Iswaran had earlier pleaded guilty to four charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which prohibits public servants from accepting any valuable items from individuals with whom they have an official relationship, as well as one charge of obstruction of justice.
Two corruption charges related to gifts from Ong were amended at the last moment to fall under Section 165, which carries a lower maximum penalty of two years in prison, compared to seven years for corruption.
Why did the AGC amend Iswaran’s charges?
“In deciding whether to amend the charges, AGC considered the litigation risks involved in proving the PCA (Prevention of Corruption Act) charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, given that there are two primary parties to the transactions, and both would have an interest in denying corruption in the transactions,” an AGC spokesperson told CNA.
“AGC also considered whether the amendment would lead to a fair and just outcome that is in line with the public interest.”
Iswaran’s original corruption charges, filed in January, explicitly named Ong as the other party involved. Despite his involvement in nearly all of Iswaran’s allegations, Ong has yet to be prosecuted.
The AGC previously indicated that a decision regarding Ong would be made after the conclusion of the Iswaran case. Yesterday, the AGC confirmed that a decision on Ong’s status would be forthcoming “soon”.
Iswaran’s charges
According to CNA, Iswaran’s two amended charges are linked to Ong, the majority shareholder of Singapore GP at the time.
In the first amended charge under Section 165, Iswaran is accused of receiving, “for no consideration”, 10 Green Room tickets valued at S$48,150 (RM154,538), eight Twenty3 tickets worth S$56,068, and 32 general admission tickets priced at S$41,216 for the 2022 Singapore F1 Grand Prix held in September 2022.
The second amended charge under Section 165 involves Iswaran allegedly receiving, also “for no consideration”, a private jet flight to Qatar valued at approximately S$10,410, a night’s accommodation at the Four Seasons Doha worth around S$4,737, and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore priced at about S$5,700 in December 2022.
The amended charges indicate that Iswaran was aware that Ong, through Singapore GP, had concerns regarding the performance of the facilitation agreement between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) for the 2022-2028 Singapore F1 Grand Prix. This agreement was linked to Iswaran’s official duties as minister and chairman of the F1 Steering Committee.
The original charges alleged that Iswaran had “corruptly” received gifts from Ong in exchange for promoting Ong’s business interests.
After the corruption charges were amended on Tuesday, Iswaran chose to plead guilty.
Iswaran’s lead lawyer, Davinder Singh, was reported as saying that Iswaran’s decision to contest the case was based on the original corruption charges. However, once those charges were amended, Iswaran felt it was “the right thing to do” to acknowledge that his actions were wrong under Section 165.
Singh contended that the sentence should not exceed eight weeks in jail, while Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong argued for a sentence of six to seven months. Iswaran’s sentencing has been adjourned to October 3.
