Singapore Transport Minister S.Iswaran resigns from his position this Thursday after being charged with 27 crimes within the framework of a corruption scandal linked to the businessman in charge of bringing the Formula One Grand Prix to the island, which had not experienced such a case since the 1980s.
S.Iswaran announced his resignation on January 18, after appearing in the island's state courtwhere he was charged with 27 crimes in a case involving property magnate Ong Beng Seng, who brought the Formula One prize to Singapore in 2008, and to which he has pleaded not guilty.
According to court documents cited by the newspaper The Straits Times, Most of the crimes are linked to Ong, and 24 of them involve the alleged acceptance of bribes and luxury items, including tickets to the Formula One Grand Prix.worth more than 218,000 US dollars between November 2015 and December 2021.
The allegations against Iswaran are varied and range in severity from accepting more than $160,000 from Ong to secure his Grand Prix-related contracts with the Singapore Tourism Board to receiving tickets for shows such as the Broadway play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Legacy'.
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The former minister was also accused of obstructing justice in May 2023just two months before being arrested last July by the anti-corruption department of the Singapore Police together with Ong, without further details being revealed at that time.
The arrest of a senior official like the former minister is unusual in the prosperous city-state, a global financial center that boasts a corruption-free government and where cabinet members have some of the highest salaries in the world.
Iswaran, who said he will return his ministerial salary and benefits since investigations began in July, Until this Thursday, she was low and her payroll had been reduced by more than 80 percent, to around $6,300 per month, during the investigations.
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The former minister was provisionally released on January 18, after paying bail of $800,000. and will have to return to court on March 1.
After being released, the former minister spoke out, through his Instagram account: “I reject the charges and accusations against me. I am innocent and now I will focus on clearing my name,” said S.Iswaran.
This is the prime minister involved in a corruption case since 1986, and the scandal occurs at a delicate time on the island, governed semi-autocratically by the People's Action Party (PAP) since its independence in 1965 and which has to hold elections. before November 2025.
*With information from EFE
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