A former Singaporean government minister has been jailed for a year after pleading guilty to obstructing justice and receiving illegal gifts from two businessmen, one of whom owns the rights to the country’s Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Subramaniam Iswaran, 62, admitted to receiving gifts from Malaysian property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owned the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix while the minister was an adviser to the Formula 1 race’s steering committee.
Iswaran admitted to one charge of obstructing justice and four counts of receiving gifts totalling 403,000 Singapore dollars ($311,000).
He is the first cabinet minister to be convicted of corruption in Singapore since Wee Toon Boon, who was jailed in 1975 for accepting gifts in exchange for helping a businessman. Another cabinet minister, Teh Cheang Wan, committed suicide while being investigated for graft in 1986.
The defense had urged him to impose a sentence of no more than eight weeks in prison, while the prosecution had suggested he get up to seven months’ imprisonment.
But Hoong, imposing a 12-month sentence, said, “I am of the view it is appropriate to impose a sentence in excess of both parties’ positions.”
Iswaran’s conviction is an embarrassment to the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), which had prided itself on its clean reputation.
The indictment against Iswaran was that he received gifts from Ong and Lum.
They included complimentary tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix, business class flights to Qatar and a stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, tickets to English Premier League soccer matches and West End musicals, wine, whisky and a luxury Brompton bicycle.
“Iswaran also knew that Lum was concerned in business transacted, namely, the performance of the T315 contract between Lum Chang Building Contractors Pte Ltd and the Land Transport Authority for ‘addition and alteration works to existing Tanah Merah station and existing viaducts,’ which had a connection with his official functions as minister.”
Iswaran was minister for trade and industry between 2015 and 2018 and then took on the communications and information brief, before getting the transport minister job in May 2021.
He resigned in January, when the allegations first emerged.
Iswaran was initially charged with 35 counts of corruption, but prosecutors downgraded the charges to receiving illegal gifts last month and dropped 30 of the counts.
The PAP won 83 out of the 93 seats in parliament in the 2020 general election, but Lee Hsien Loong stepped down after 20 years as prime minister in May.
The current prime minister, Lawrence Wong, 51, majored in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and got a Master’s degree in public administration from Harvard.
On Sept. 26, the office of Attorney General Lucien Wong stated that it had yet to decide whether to charge Ong—who still owns the lucrative rights to the Singapore Grand Prix—and Lum.
