KUALA LUMPUR – Singapore’s former transport minister S. Iswaran has been dogged by allegations of receiving “valuable things” worth several hundreds of thousands in the republic’s dollars from billionaire hotelier Datuk Ong Beng Seng.
According to Channel News Asia, Iswaran – who was charged with 27 offences at Singapore’s state court this morning – had received S$384,000 (RM996,498) in valuable things from Ong ranging from tickets to shows, English Premier League football matches and various editions of F1’s Singapore Grand Prix between 2015 to 2022.
The charge sheet also read that Iswaran had received an all-paid-for trip to Doha, Qatar in exchange for advancing Ong’s business interests.
The 61-year-old allegedly received tickets to 12 plays or musicals in the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2021, which include Thriller; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Book of Mormon; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Part 1; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Part 2; Kinky Boots; The Play That Goes Wrong; School of Rock; Hamilton; Waitress; Betrayal; Back to the Future and & Juliet.
The total worth of these tickets is said to be S$10,693.
He also allegedly received tickets worth S$5,646 to attend Premier league matches between 2015 and 2018.
The matches include West Ham v Everton at the Boleyn Ground; Arsenal v Tottenham (Emirates Stadium); Chelsea v Southampton (Stamford Bridge); Arsenal v Liverpool (Emirates Stadium) and Chelsea v Manchester City (Stamford Bridge).
Iswaran, who had also served in his capacity as the Singapore Grand Prix’s steering committee chairman, allegedly received Green Room tickets, Boardwalk tickets, Twenty3 tickets and general admission tickets to the different editions of the grand prix between 2016 and 2022 worth S$347,152 in total.
Iswaran pleaded not guilty to all charges – which include two counts of corruption, 24 counts of obtaining items from someone he had business dealings with as a public servant and one of obstructing the course of justice – that were read to him at the hearing.
Court documents revealed that the majority of offences Iswaran was accused of involved Ong, who brought Formula 1 to Singapore in 2008.
According to the Straits Times, Iswaran was represented by senior counsel Davinder Singh while the prosecution team is led by chief prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng, who is assisted by two deputy public prosecutors, Jiang Ke Yue and Kelvin Chong.
At present, Iswaran is currently out on S$800,000 bail while his pretrial conference hase been set for March 1.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (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.
Despite being put on leave of absence with pay cuts, Iswaran was still allowed to withdraw a full amount of S$192,500 in MP’s annual allowances.
Iswaran, who was also minister-in-charge of trade relations, had joined the cabinet as Lee’s junior minister in 2006, where he held the trade and communications portfolios before becoming transport minister in May 2021.
Following today’s charges, CNA reported that Iswaran had stepped down from his positions as minister, MP for the West Coast Group Representation Constituency, and People’s Action Party (PAP) member.
The state media quoted prime minister Lee’s statement, which said Iswaran’s resignation came after the CPIB handed him formal notice of the charges on Tuesday.
The PAP secretary-general accepted Iswaran’s resignation.
Lee also said yesterday that Iswaran had informed him that he would be returning all monies received as minister as well as his MP’s allowance from the commencement of the CPIB’s investigation until the day of his charges.
Acting transport minister Chee Hong Tat will replace Iswaran as transport minister and second finance minister, while Grace Fu, who is the sustainability and environment minister, will concurrently resume responsibility as minister-in-charge of trade relations. – January 18, 2024