Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook & S Iswaran on Facebook
Former Transport Minister S Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on Thursday (3 Oct).
This came about a week after he pleaded guilty to five charges in late September.
The jail sentence was longer than what the prosecution and defence requested — six to seven months’ jail and eight weeks imprisonment respectively.
Explaining the decision, Judge Vincent Hoong said he was unable to agree with both parties’ submissions and decided on a sentence that was in excess of their positions.
Iswaran will commence his sentence next Monday (7 Oct).
Source: S Iswaran on Facebook
Iswaran previously faced 35 charges as he had accepted valuables from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng and construction firm managing director Lum Kok Seng.
According to Section 165 of the Penal Code, public servants cannot accept valuable items from those they’re related to in an official capacity.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
However, on the first day of trial in September, Iswaran pleaded guilty to five charges after two were amended.
The two charges originally came under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
They alleged that Iswaran “corruptly” obtained gifts from Ong.
The amended charges instead came under the aforementioned Section 165, for accepting valuable items as a public servant, which is considerably less serious.
After the amendments, the first charge states that Iswaran obtained from Mr Ong, “for no consideration”, in Sept 2022:
As for the second charge, Iswaran obtained from Mr Ong, “for no consideration”, in Dec 2022:
Four of the charges Iswaran pleaded guilty to now fall under Section 165, while the fifth is for obstruction of justice.
He also made a disgorgement of S$380,305.95 to the state on 23 Sept.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The prosecution argued that Iswaran’s actions had a “significant impact” on the reputation of Singapore’s government since he had been a minister for 12 years.
He stated that such acts of accepting gifts by public servants would erode public confidence in the government’s integrity.
As such, the prosecution sought six to seven months’ jail.
In mitigation, Iswaran’s lawyer, Mr Davinder Singh, alleged that his client was not aware of Section 165 at the time.
He said that Iswaran understood that legal ignorance was no excuse and recognised it was wrong for him to have accepted the gifts.
Mr Singh then claimed that the offences resulted in little to no harm and that there was little evidence that his client’s loyalty to the government was compromised.
Due to this, Mr Singh requested a maximum of eight weeks’ jail.
Also read: Iswaran pleads guilty after amendments to corruption charges, prosecution asks for 7 months’ jail
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and S Iswaran on Facebook.
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