SINGAPORE – Former Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran was charged in court again today with eight additional charges for obtaining valuable items as a public servant.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said Iswaran, 61, was alleged to have obtained the gifts with a total value of about S$18,956.94 (RM66,600) from Lum Kok Seng, whom he knew to be concerned in business transactions that had a connection with his official function as transport minister.
These alleged offences were committed between November 2021 and November 2022 and are punishable under Section 165 of the Penal Code, said the agency in a statement today.
Any person who is convicted under Section 165 of the Penal Code can be fined, sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
According to Straits Times reports, Iswaran pleaded not guilty to the additional charges, when asked by district judge Brenda Tan.
According to the charge sheets, the items include bottles of whisky, golf clubs and a Brompton bicycle, the reports said.
Iswaran was earlier hit with 27 charges on January 18 for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Penal Code.
It had been reported that he had received S$384,000 in valuable things from billionaire hotelier Datuk Ong Beng Seng. These ranged from tickets to shows, English Premier League football matches and various editions of F1’s Singapore Grand Prix between 2015 to 2022.
Iswaran had also allegedly received an all-paid-for trip to Doha, Qatar in exchange for advancing Ong’s business interests.
The former minister had also pleaded not guilty to all of the 27 corruption charges in January.
The CPIB has been investigating Iswaran and property tycoon Ong since July last year.
At that time, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong barred the minister from leaving the country and placed him on leave of absence. – March 25, 2024