Iswaran convicted of 5 charges pleaded guilty, will be sentenced on Oct 3
Former transport minister S. Iswaran pleaded guilty on Sept 24, on what was supposed to be the first day of his scheduled trial.
Iswaran, 62, is now convicted of five charges, and the prosecution is seeking a jail term of six to seven months. He is expected to be sentenced on Oct 3.
Four of these charges are for obtaining, as a public servant, valuable items from Formula One (F1) race promoter Singapore GP’s chairman Ong Beng Seng and Mr David Lum, managing director of mainboard-listed construction company Lum Chang Holdings. Iswaran also admitted to one charge of obstructing the course of justice.
Former Singapore transport minister Iswaran pleads guilty after charges amended
The former minister, who last held roles in transport and trade relations, admitted to obtaining valuables as a public servant and obstruction of justice
Former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Sep 24) on what was expected to be the first day of his criminal trial, after saying for months he would be contesting the case to clear his name.
The 62-year-old admitted to four charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which forbids all public servants from obtaining any valuable thing from someone involved with them in an official capacity, and one charge of obstruction of justice. Another 30 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
The valuables involved in all the charges include tickets to theatre shows, football matches and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, whisky, international flights and a hotel stay. The amount involved is more than S$400,000 (over US$300,000). The hearing started promptly at 10am, with the prosecution tendering a fresh set of charges.
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All eyes on Iswaran’s trial as it begins on Sept 24
Former transport minister S. Iswaran is the first political office-holder in nearly five decades to be tried in court
More than a year after his arrest by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in July 2023, former transport minister S. Iswaran will go to court on Sept 24 to defend himself against 35 criminal charges.
The first tranche of the High Court trial will be held until Sept 27. Further trial dates have been set in November and from January to March 2025.
Iswaran, 62, is the first political office-holder in nearly five decades to be tried in court.
Former transport minister S Iswaran's trial moved back 2 weeks to Sep 24
The criminal trial of former transport minister S Iswaran, originally set for Sep 10, has been moved to Sep 24, a spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said on Thursday (Sep 5).
The spokesperson said both the prosecution and defence had requested the court to adjourn the start of the hearing. "Because it was a joint request, the court acceded to it," added the AGC spokesperson.
Davinder Singh Chambers, the law firm hired by Iswaran, declined comment when asked why the defence requested an adjournment. CNA has also contacted the prosecution to ask about its request. The adjournment comes after the Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed Iswaran's third bid to have the prosecution make available all statements from its intended witnesses.
Trial of former transport minister Iswaran pushed back, now to start on Sept 10
Former transport minister S. Iswaran arriving at the Supreme Court with his lawyers on May 8
The criminal trial of former transport minister S. Iswaran, which was originally slated to begin on Aug 13, has been pushed back to start in September instead.
On Aug 12, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said the first tranche of trial dates is now fixed for Sept 10 to 13.
Responding to media queries, a spokesperson for the AGC said the earlier set of trial dates has been vacated at the request of defence counsel.
Iswaran fails in third bid for prosecution to provide all witness statements
Former transport minister S Iswaran (centre) arriving at the State Courts on Jan 18, 2024, when he was charged with multiple offences including corruption. He is accompanied by his lawyers Davinder Singh (left) and Navin Thevar
Former transport minister S Iswaran on Tuesday (Sep 3) failed in his third attempt to compel the prosecution to provide statements of all its witnesses to the defence.
The 62-year-old had tried to do so by referring two questions of law of public interest to the Court of Appeal, but the three-judge court found that the required conditions were not met. The two questions Iswaran raised were: Whether the prosecution has to include in its case the facts and evidence supporting the charges in the form of witness statements, and whether the court can and ought to order the prosecution to do so.
Iswaran had made two previous bids to obtain all the prosecution witness statements before his case goes to trial. These attempts had been thrown out by an assistant registrar at a criminal case disclosure conference and by a High Court judge
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Former transport minister Iswaran makes third bid for statements of trial witnesses
Former transport minister S. Iswaran arriving at the Supreme Court on Sept 3, 2024
With his trial due to begin in a week’s time, former transport minister S. Iswaran went to the Court of Appeal on Sept 3 in his third attempt to obtain conditioned statements of every prosecution witness.
A conditioned statement is a mode of giving evidence in a written statement, rather than oral testimony.
Iswaran, 62, is seeking permission from the court to file what is known as a criminal reference – an application asking Singapore’s top court to answer a question of law of public interest.
High Court rejects Iswaran’s bid for prosecution to provide statements of witnesses; trial set for Aug 13
Former transport minister S. Iswaran (right) arriving at the Supreme Court with his lawyer on July 5
A High Court judge has rejected a bid by former transport minister S. Iswaran to compel the prosecution to provide conditioned statements of all 56 witnesses it has lined up for his upcoming trial on 35 charges.
A conditioned statement is a mode of giving evidence in a written statement, rather than oral testimony, often to expedite court proceedings.
The prosecution has said that since it does not intend to rely on conditioned statements for Iswaran’s trial, none were recorded from the witnesses, and, thus, none were provided to the defence.
Charges against Former Transport Minister Iswaran
Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran faces 27 charges including corruption, says he is not guilty
Some of the charges were related to alleged incidents that happened between 2015 and 2021, and included receiving two tickets to a football match between West Ham United and Everton. A court officer told the court the charges were read to him before the hearing.
Iswaran, who was arrested in July 2023 by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), arrived at the State Courts at about 8am on Jan 18. He arrived with his legal team, which includes Senior Counsel Davinder Singh from Davinder Singh Chambers, and did not comment when The Straits Times approached him. 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.
related: LIVE - Iswaran faces 27 charges
Corruption probe involving Singapore Transport Minister
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| Singapore's Minister for Transport S Iswaran delivers his opening address at the Changi Aviation Summit on May 17, 2022 |
The investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) into Transport Minister S Iswaran has concluded, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday (Jan 9).
In a written answer to Progress Singapore Party’s Hazel Poa, Mr Chan, replying on behalf of the Prime Minister, said the case is currently being reviewed by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC). Ms Poa, a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), had asked for an update on CPIB’s investigation of Mr Iswaran. “I understand that there is much public interest in this matter,” Mr Chan said. “I want to give my assurance that this case will be put through the due legal process.” He noted that CPIB has completed a “robust and thorough investigation”, and the matter is now before AGC. “It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on the matter at this juncture,” he said.
On Jul 12 last year, CPIB first revealed that Mr Iswaran was assisting with an investigation into a case uncovered by the anti-graft agency. Two days later, CPIB said the Transport Minister had in fact been arrested on Jul 11 and subsequently released on bail. Hotel Properties Limited managing director Ong Beng Seng was arrested on the same day. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong subsequently placed Mr Iswaran on a leave of absence. Mr Lee also said in August that Mr Iswaran had his pay reduced to S$8,500 (US$6,390) a month until further notice. Mr Iswaran continues to draw the full annual MP allowance of S$192,500.
