Not guilty, says ex-Indian origin Singapore Minister facing corruption charges

Singapore, Jan 18: Following his recent resignation as Singapore's Transport Minister, Indian-origin S. Iswaran on Thursday pleaded not guilty to all 27 charges, including corruption, obtaining a valuable thing as a public servant and obstructing justice.

Arriving at the State Courts at about 8 am on Thursday with his legal team, the 61-year-old former minister did not respond to questions from reporters, The Straits Times reported.

When the judge asked Iswaran how he intended to plead, he said: “Not guilty."

Iswaran's Senior Counsel Davinder Singh told the court that he was initially charged on January 15 with 36 charges and that cautioned statements were taken on these charges.

He said the defence learnt on Thursday morning that there were now 27 charges, and asked if the prosecution was proceeding on the remaining nine charges, to which the prosecution said it was not.

Iswaran’s pre-trial conference is scheduled for March 1, and he is presently out on SG$800,000 bail.

He was elected into Parliament in 1997 as an MP for West Coast Group Representation Constituency, where he served for the last 26 years.

He has held ministerial positions in the ministries of education, home affairs, and communications and information.

According to court documents, most of the offences Iswaran faces involve billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng, who brought Formula One to Singapore in 2008.

Ong was also arrested along with Iswaran on July 11, 2023 as part of the corruption probe.

The charge sheet states that Iswaran received "valuable things" worth more than S$384,000 (US$285,000) from Ong between 2015 and 2022.

These ranged from tickets to shows, private plane ride, hotel stays, football matches and various editions of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix.

Iswaran was arrested by CPIB on July 11, 2023, following its investigation into a separate matter after which he was released on bail.

He was instructed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to take a leave of absence until investigations were completed, and his monthly pay was reduced to SG$8,500.