Former Singapore Minister convicted of corruption

A court in Singapore on Thursday sentenced a former minister to 12 months in prison for obstruction of justice and receiving gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was the first imprisonment of a former cabinet member in a city-state known for its clean governance.

S. Iswaran, who served in the Cabinet for 13 years and held the trade, communications and transport portfolios, had pleaded guilty to four counts of improperly receiving gifts and one of perverting the course of justice.

The court said Iswaran, 62, will be allowed to remain on bail for the next few days and begin his prison sentence on Monday.

The case has shocked Singapore, which prides itself on having a well-paid and efficient bureaucracy, as well as a strong and squeaky-clean administration.

According to Transparency International’s corruption perception index, the country was among the top five least corrupt countries in the world last year.

The last corruption case involving a Singaporean minister was in 1986, when the development minister was investigated for alleged bribery but died before charges were filed in court.

The investigation caused a stir in the Asian financial center and focused on Iswaran’s allegations, while the Transport Minister accepted lavish gifts from businessmen, including tickets to football matches in the English Premier League, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, musicals in London and a private jet ride.

The value of these totaled more than 400,000 Singapore dollars, the prosecutor said.

Iswaran resigned as transport minister after less than three years in office when he was first charged in January.

Iswaran had initially said he was innocent and would fight to clear his name, but pleaded guilty to the five charges filed in court, two of which were initially related to corruption but were changed to charges of receiving of gifts.

The prosecutor had initially charged him with 35 offenses but moved on to only five. (Reuters)