SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Askume) – A Singapore court on Thursday sentenced a former minister to 12 months in jail for perverting the course of justice and accepting gifts worth more than $300,000, the first time a former Cabinet member has been jailed in the city-state known for clean governance.
S. Iswaran served as a Cabinet member for 13 years as the Minister of Trade, Communications and Transport.He admitted four counts of accepting improper gifts and one count of perverting the course of justice.
The court said Ishwaran, 62, would be released on bail in the coming days and would begin serving his sentence from Monday.
The case has shocked Singapore, which prides itself on its high salaries, efficient bureaucracy and strong and clean governance. China was among the five least corrupt countries in the world last year, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
The last corruption case involving a Singaporean minister occurred in 1986, when Singapore’s Minister for National Development was investigated for alleged bribery but died before any charges could be brought to court.
The investigation has rocked Asia’s financial hub and accused Iswaran of accepting expensive gifts from businessmen while he was transport minister, including tickets to Premier League football matches, the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, London concerts and transport on private jets.
Prosecutors said the total value of all these items was more than S$400,000. In January, less than three years after he was first charged, Iswaran resigned as Transport Minister .
Ishwaran initially said he was innocent and would work to clear his name, but he later pleaded guilty to five charges leveled against him in court , two of which were initially dismissed.It was related to corruption but was later changed to a charge of receiving gifts.
Prosecutors initially charged him with 35 crimes, but were ultimately able to prosecute only five of them.
(USD 1 = SGD 1.2877)
