PETALING JAYA: Among the 27 charges he was slapped with earlier today, Singapore’s now-former transport minister S Iswaran is accused of corruptly accepting tickets to five football matches.
Iswaran, who has resigned as a Cabinet minister and from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), faces 24 charges of obtaining gratification as a public servant, two graft charges and one of obstructing the course of justice.
He pleaded not guilty.
According to CNA, all 27 charges involve property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who was also detained in July as part of the corruption probe.
The former minister is charged with accepting from Ong 16 match tickets to Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur; West Ham United vs Everton; Chelsea vs Southampton; Arsenal vs Liverpool; and Chelsea vs Manchester City.
The tickets were worth a total of £2,938 (RM17,570).
Iswaran is also charged with accepting admission tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix, worth some S$201,718 (RM708,000) in total.
He is also charged with accepting tickets to various theatre shows in the UK for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Back to the Future, School of Rock and Hamilton, among others. These were allegedly worth more than £5,300.
The tickets to the football matches, Singapore GP and shows were said to have been given to Iswaran between November 2015 and December 2021.
In the first corruption charge, Iswaran is alleged to have obtained S$145,434 in various tickets to the 2022 Singapore F1 GP from Ong in September 2022 in exchange for assisting the tycoon in connection with a contract between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
He is also charged with obtaining a flight to Doha on Ong’s private jet, a one-night stay in Four Seasons Doha, and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore from Ong in December 2022.
The gratification is also said to be in exchange for assisting the businessman over a contract related to an agreement between the Singapore GP and STB.
Iswaran’s charge of obstructing justice relates to the alleged repayment of some S$5,700 made to Singapore GP in May, 2023, said to be the cost of his business flight from Doha to Singapore.
District judge Brenda Tan has fixed March 1 for a pre-trial conference.
