Former Singapore transport minister sentenced to year in jail over gifts

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Singapore’s former transport minister S Iswaran has been sentenced to one year in prison for accepting more than $300,000 in gifts as a public servant and obstructing justice, local media reported, in a rare graft case involving a government official in the Asian financial hub.

The jail term handed down on Thursday was longer than the six to seven months sought by prosecutors for Iswaran, who was instrumental in bringing the Formula One Grand Prix to Singapore.

Iswaran, 62, has been asked to surrender himself on October 7 to begin his jail term, Singapore’s Channel News Asia and The Straits Times reported.

He had pleaded guilty last month to four charges of obtaining valuable items and one charge of obstruction of justice, despite previously denying wrongdoing and vowing to clear his name.

Singapore prides itself on its reputation for clean governance and transparency, and ministers in the city-state are among the highest paid in the world, earning about S$1mn (US$772,000) a year, in part to discourage corruption.

Iswaran’s sentence marks the first time in nearly 50 years that a former minister has been jailed in Singapore. In 1975, Wee Toon Boon was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for accepting gifts from a businessman. His sentence was reduced on appeal to 18 months.

Another cabinet minister, Teh Cheang Wan, was investigated for accepting bribes in 1986 but died before any charges were brought.

Iswaran was accused of obtaining gifts worth S$403,297.92 from two local businessmen during his tenure as minister. He has returned S$380,305.95 to the government.

The gifts allegedly included tickets to English Premier League football matches, Formula One races and plays including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton and Kinky Boots, as well as a business-class flight from Doha to Singapore in 2022, prosecutors have said.

Singapore authorities also seized wine, whisky, golf clubs and a Brompton T Line bicycle as part of the investigation.

Singapore is set to hold elections next year after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong took office in May as the city-state’s fourth leader and only its second from outside the founding Lee family.

The ruling People’s Action party — which has governed the city-state since independence in 1965 — is expected to win, but its reputation has taken a hit from a series of scandals, including the corruption allegations against Iswaran.