What were Iswaran’s dealings with Ong Beng Seng and Lum Kok Seng?

SINGAPORE: As the prosecution set out its case against former transport minister S Iswaran on Tuesday (Sep 24), details emerged on his dealings with businessmen and his attempt to avoid being investigated by Singapore’s anti-corruption agency.
Iswaran, 62, pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining valuables as a public servant and one charge of obstructing justice. It was a surprise decision after the prosecution amended two counts of corruption to lesser charges under Section 165 – a rarely used provision in the Penal Code.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) started looking into Iswaran while investigating a separate matter, then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said last year.
It was revealed on Tuesday that the CPIB had been investigating associates of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng in May 2023, when it came across a flight manifest of Mr Ong’s private jet.
This was for a trip from Singapore to Doha, Qatar in December 2022. Iswaran had been on this flight.
On Dec 6, 2022, Iswaran accepted an invitation from Mr Ong to join him on a trip to Qatar. Mr Ong said he would take care of all the expenses for the trip.
Iswaran took urgent personal leave and flew to Qatar on Dec 10, 2022, on Mr Ong’s private jet.
He checked into a room at Four Seasons Doha and flew back the next day on a business-class flight. The hotel room and return flight were paid for by Singapore GP, where Mr Ong is the majority shareholder.
The trip expenses amounted to more than S$20,000 (US$15,500). Iswaran did not pay Mr Ong nor Singapore GP back for any of the expenses until after CPIB found the private jet’s flight manifest, and did not declare the gifts to the government.
Iswaran knew that Mr Ong was involved in a 2022 contract between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board, and this was connected to his official functions as minister and chairman of the F1 Steering Committee, said prosecutors.
This amounted to an offence under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
Under Section 165, it is an offence for a public servant to accept or obtain anything of value, without payment or with inadequate payment, from any person with whom he is involved in an official capacity.
Legal experts whom CNA spoke to previously noted two key differences between the charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Penal Code that Iswaran initially faced.
Mr Adrian Wee, managing partner of Lighthouse Law, said that a public servant can receive such a benefit without being induced or rewarded to do anything or give any favours in return. 
This means there may not necessarily be any corruption involved in Section 165 offences.
Mr Chooi Jing Yen, partner at Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, said that it appears offences under Section 165 are “easier to prove”. 
He said this is because the prosecution does not need to prove that a benefit was in exchange for the receiver agreeing to do something.
On May 18, 2023, Mr Ong’s associates informed him that CPIB had seized the flight manifest and questioned them about the Doha trip. Between then and May 23, 2023, Mr Ong informed Iswaran of this development on the phone.
The day after their phone call, the two men spoke again, and Iswaran asked Mr Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the Doha trip. Mr Ong arranged for an invoice to be sent to Iswaran’s personal assistant the next day.
Around May 25, 2023, Iswaran issued a cheque for S$5,700 to Singapore GP.
This act “had a tendency to obstruct the course of justice, as it made it less likely that he would be investigated by CPIB in relation to the Doha trip”, the prosecution said.
“(Iswaran) knew at the time that his act of making payment for the Doha-Singapore flight was likely to obstruct the course of justice”, according to the prosecutors.
This is the basis of the most serious offence Iswaran has been convicted of – obstruction of justice under Section 204A of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of seven years.
Singapore GP has been responsible for organising and promoting the Singapore F1 Grand Prix since 2008.
STB is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where Iswaran was Minister (Industry) from October 2015 to April 2018.
Iswaran was also chairman of the government’s F1 Steering Committee from 2007 to 2023, except for a period from 2018 to 2021 when he was an adviser.
“At all material times, save for the period of May 1, 2018, to May 14, 2021, the accused was the minister responsible for overseeing the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix as a national project,” said prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, there was a “standing instruction” from Mr Ong to allocate complimentary Singapore Grand Prix tickets to Iswaran.
Around September 2017, the deputy chairman of Singapore GP asked Iswaran how many tickets he would require. Iswaran asked for 10 Green Room tickets.
Each ticket, worth more than S$4,200, gave access to an air-conditioned suite with outdoor seating, as well as complimentary food and alcohol.
The 10 tickets were delivered to Iswaran, who distributed them to family, friends and other people. They came out of Singapore GP’s contractual allocation of complimentary tickets, which Mr Ong controlled.
This was one instance of Iswaran receiving Singapore GP tickets from Mr Ong between 2016 and 2019 and again in 2022, at a total value of over S$347,000.
Iswaran also received tickets to theatre shows and football matches worth more than £8,800 (about S$16,000) from Mr Ong, in the charges considered for sentencing.
Iswaran also received gifts from another businessman, Mr Lum Kok Seng, the director of Lum Chang Building Contractors and managing director of Lum Chang Holdings.
In 2016, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded Lum Chang Building Contractors a S$325 million contract for works at Tanah Merah Station and existing viaducts.
LTA comes under the Ministry of Transport. Iswaran was transport minister from May 15, 2021 to Jan 17, 2024, and was responsible for LTA in that capacity.
In late 2021, Iswaran asked Mr Lum to help him source whisky and red wine. He sent a photo of a bottle of Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila whisky, and asked Mr Lum to check with his regular supplier “what he thinks about it”.
On Jan 7, 2022, Mr Lum told Iswaran that he had bought two bottles of the whisky and would send it to him with a batch of red wine. Iswaran thanked him.
Later that month, Mr Lum arranged for two bottles of the whisky and 12 bottles of red wine, worth about S$3,200, to be sent to Iswaran’s home.
On another occasion, Iswaran invited Mr Lum to his 60th birthday celebration on Jun 18, 2022. Mr Lum “suggested” to Iswaran that he would buy him a foldable bicycle for his birthday.
That June, Iswaran obtained a Brompton T Line bicycle from Mr Lum, valued at about S$7,900.
Iswaran knew that Mr Lum was involved in a contract between Lum Chang Building Contractors and LTA. Receiving these gifts therefore constituted offences under Section 165.
Iswaran also obtained golf clubs and equipment worth almost S$6,000 and more whisky worth about S$1,800 from Mr Lum on other occasions.
The court heard on Tuesday that Iswaran made restitution of more than S$380,000 to the state after the corruption charges against him were amended to lesser charges under Section 165.
In the course of investigations, CPIB also seized the following items from Iswaran, which he agreed to forfeit to the state: