He was the first minister to be charged with corruption in Singapore in nearly 50 years. For months, he had vowed to clear his name.
On Tuesday, in a surprise twist, the prosecution dropped the charges of corruption, and S. Iswaran, the former transport minister, pleaded guilty to lesser offenses: four charges of obtaining valuable items as a public servant and one charge of obstructing justice. It was not clear whether a plea deal had been reached.
In January, Mr. Iswaran was slapped with 35 counts of wrongdoing, including accepting bribes — such as tickets to the play “Hamilton,” soccer games in England and the Formula 1 race in Singapore — that were valued at 403,000 Singapore dollars ($312,000). Most of those dealings involved the property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who has not been charged in the case.
The case stunned many Singaporeans, who had long believed that their politicians were incorruptible in part because of their high salaries. Singapore has consistently been lauded for its lack of graft. It was the fifth-least-corrupt country in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2023, the only Asian country in the top 10.
It was also seen as a black mark on the governing People’s Action Party, which has been in power for more than six decades and projected a scrupulous image. Mr. Iswaran was a senior figure in the party and was best known for his role in bringing the glitzy Formula 1 race to Singapore.
Mr. Iswaran is set to be sentenced on Oct. 3.
At the start of the trial on Tuesday, prosecutors sought a prison term of six to seven months. In court on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Tai Wei Shyong said Mr. Iswaran was “more than a passive acceptor” of the gifts. Not punishing such acts, Mr. Tai said, would send a signal that these acts can be tolerated, according to The Straits Times, the main newspaper in Singapore.
Mr. Tai asked for a custodial sentence — meaning a prison term — because of Mr. Iswaran’s former position as a minister and the potential damage to the public interest.
Mr. Iswaran’s case was the latest in a slew of bad press for the Singapore government. It came months after Singapore’s speaker of Parliament resigned after an extramarital affair with a fellow lawmaker, and the real estate dealings of two ministers stirred controversy.
Singapore does not allow civil servants or politicians to ask for gifts or favors. Any person who accepts a gift that is valued at $38 or more would have to pay its value to the government. The affluent city-state pays its ministers some of the highest salaries in the world, calling it a measure to prevent corruption.
Mr. Iswaran’s lawyer, Davinder Singh, argued that Mr. Iswaran should not spend more than eight weeks in prison. He said his client’s acts did not have an impact on the reputation of the government. By charging its own minister, the government was sending the strongest signal that it was upholding its longstanding commitment to integrity, Mr. Singh said, according to The Straits Times.
Mr. Singh said that there was no abuse of power in office and that Mr. Iswaran’s actions were never “about the money.” He pointed out that Mr. Iswaran had returned some of the gifts he received and voluntarily returned the salary he received as a minister and his allowance as a member of Parliament.
Mr. Singh argued that Mr. Iswaran’s culpability was low because he received the gifts in the context of his friendship with Mr. Ong and David Lum, managing director of a Singapore-based construction company, without any “premeditation or sophistication involved.”
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