KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A former Singaporean minister was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison after pleading guilty to receiving illegal gifts, in a rare criminal case involving a minister in the Asian financial hub.
Former Minister of Transport S. Iswaran had pleaded guilty last week to one count of obstruction of justice and four counts of accepting gifts from people with whom he had official business. He was the first minister in nearly half a century to be indicted and imprisoned.
Judge Vincent Hoong said in his ruling that high office holders “should be expected to avoid any perception that they are susceptible to being influenced by monetary benefits,” according to Channel News Asia.
“I believe it is appropriate to impose a punishment that goes beyond the positions of either side,” Hoong said.
The defense had asked for no more than eight weeks in prison, while the prosecution had asked for six to seven months in prison.
Iswaran, 62, was initially charged with 35 counts, but prosecutors pressed ahead with just five while reducing two counts of corruption to receiving illegal gifts. Prosecutors said they will file remaining 30 charges to be taken into account in sentencing. No reasons were given for the move.
Iswaran received gifts worth more than 74,000 Singapore dollars ($57,000) from Ong Beng Seng, a Singapore-based Malaysian real estate magnate, and businessman Lum Kok Seng. The gifts include tickets to the Formula 1 race in Singapore, wine and whiskey and a luxury Brompton bicycle. Ong owns the rights to the local F1 race and Iswaran was chairman and later advisor to the Grand Prix steering committee.
The Attorney General’s Chambers said they will decide whether to charge Ong and Lum after the case against Iswaran is resolved.
Singapore This country’s ministers are among the best paid in the world. Although the amount involved in Iswaran’s case seemed relatively small, his indictment is an embarrassment for the ruling People’s Action Party, which prides itself on its clean image.
The last minister accused of corruption was Wee Toon Boon, who was found guilty and jailed in 1975 for accepting gifts in exchange for helping a businessman. Another minister was investigated for corruption in 1986 but died before charges were brought.
Iswaran had resigned just before he was charged. His trial comes just over four months after Singapore new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong installed after Lee Hsien Loong resigned after twenty years.