SINGAPORE – Former transport minister S. Iswaran faces 27 charges in total, involving items worth more than $380,000.
He is accused of 24 counts of obtaining, as a minister, items with a total value of more than $200,000 from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Mr Ong is the man who brought Formula One to Singapore.
These items include tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix (GP), football matches in Britain and musicals.
Iswaran allegedly obtained the following, either from Mr Ong directly, or through either Como Holdings (UK) or Singapore GP:
1. Two tickets to the show Thriller, worth about ￡200 (approximately S$429.94, according to court documents), around November 2015.
2. Two tickets to the show The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, worth about ￡270, around November 2015.
3. Two tickets to the football match for West Ham United Football Club v Everton FC (Boleyn Ground), worth about ￡468, around November 2015.
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4. Two tickets to the football match for Arsenal FC v Tottenham Hotspur FC (Emirates), worth about ￡550, around November 2015.
5. Ten Green Room (hospitality suite) tickets to the 2016 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $42,265, in September 2016.
6. Ten Green Room tickets to the 2017 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $42,265, in September 2017.
7. Five boardwalk tickets to the 2017 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $40,000, in September 2017.
8. Four tickets to the show Book Of Mormon, worth about ￡540, around December 2017.
9. Four tickets to the football match for Chelsea FC v Southampton FC (Stamford Bridge), worth about ￡700, around December 2017.
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10. Four tickets to the shows Harry Potter And The Cursed Child: Part 1 and Harry Potter And The Cursed Child: Part 2, worth about ￡1,000, around December 2017.
11. Four tickets to the football match for Arsenal FC v Liverpool FC (Emirates), worth about ￡1,100, around December 2017.
12. Four tickets to the show Kinky Boots, worth about ￡300, around December 2017.
13. Six Twenty3 tickets to the 2018 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $13,193.10, in September 2018.
14. Thirteen general admission tickets to the 2018 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $16,744, in September 2018.
15. Four tickets to the show The Play That Goes Wrong, worth about ￡380, around December 2018.
Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng is the man who brought Formula One to Singapore. PHOTO: ST FILE
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16. Four tickets to the show School Of Rock, worth about ￡560, around December 2018.
17. Four tickets to the football match for Chelsea FC v Manchester City FC (Stamford Bridge), worth at least ￡120, around December 2018.
18. Four tickets to the show Hamilton, worth about ￡400, some time around June 2019.
19. Four tickets to the show Waitress, worth about ￡524, some time around June 2019.
20. Four tickets to the show Betrayal, worth about ￡1,080, some time around June 2019.
21. Six Green Room tickets to the 2019 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $26,643, some time in September 2019.
22. Sixteen general admission tickets to the 2019 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $20,608, some time in September 2019.
The Singapore Formula One Grand Prix race in 2019. PHOTO: ST FILE
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23. Two tickets to the show Back To The Future, worth about ￡449, some time around December 2021.
24. Two tickets to the show & Juliet, worth about ￡250, some time around December 2021.
Iswaran was also handed two graft charges.
25. He allegedly corruptly obtained 10 Green Room tickets, eight Twenty3 tickets and 32 general admission tickets to the 2022 Singapore F1 GP, worth about $48,150, $56,068 and $41,216 respectively, in September 2022.
26. He allegedly corruptly obtained an outbound flight on Mr Ong’s private plane from Singapore to Doha, worth about US$7,700 (approximately $10,410.40, according to court documents); a one night’s stay in Four Seasons Doha, worth about $4,737.63, through Singapore GP; and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore, worth about $5,700, through Singapore GP.
This was purportedly as an inducement for doing acts in relation to his principal’s affairs – advancing Mr Ong’s business interests in matters relating to: a contract with a public body, the facilitation agreement between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB); and a proposal for a contract with the STB to establish the ABBA Voyage virtual concert in Singapore.
27. Iswaran is also accused of performing an act that could likely obstruct the course of justice. He allegedly repaid $5,700 to Singapore GP for the cost of his business class flight from Doha to Singapore that he purportedly took on Dec 11, 2022, at Mr Ong’s expense through Singapore GP.
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