Minister for Transport S Iswaran was charged with corruption on Jan. 18, 2024.
He is the first cabinet minister in the history of Singapore to be charged with a criminal offence in court.
He faces a total of 27 charges, including criminal charges of obtaining any valuable thing from a person concerned in any related proceeding or business as a public servant, obstructing justice and corruption charges of receiving gratification.
He is out on bail for S$800,000.
Pleads not guilty
Iswaran is represented by a team of lawyers led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.
When asked to take his plea, Iswaran said he pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution asked for the case to be adjourned and to extend his current bail.
Singh said that Iswaran was initially handed 36 charges by the CPIB on Jan. 15, 2024, and asked if the prosecution will be proceeding with the remaining nine charges.
The prosecution confirmed that they will not be proceeding with the charges "after considering all the evidence in the case".
Singh then further questioned the decision and said it was "surprising and highly significant" that after what he assumed was a "very thorough investigation", nine charges have now "evaporated".
The judge fixed the case for a pre-trial conference on March 1, 2024.
Accompanied by lawyer to State Courts
Iswaran arrived at the State Courts building at 8:10am accompanied by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.
He did not say anything to the media when he entered the building.
Background
Less than two weeks ago, on Jan. 9, 2024, minister Chan Chun Sing, on behalf of the Prime Minister, said the CPIB investigation on Iswaran was completed and handed over to the Attorney-General's Chambers for review.
Iswaran's case came to light when CPIB found information during another investigation.
This started a quiet investigation in May 2023, and PM Lee was alerted to it on May 29, 2023.
On Jul. 5, 2023, CPIB told PM Lee they had attained adequate information to launch a formal investigation into Iswaran. PM Lee gave the director of CPIB his concurrence to launch a formal investigation.
Iswaran was subsequently arrested by CPIB on Jul. 11, 2023, and released on bail.
He was arrested on the same day as billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng.
PM Lee instructed Iswaran to take a leave of absence until CPIB's investigations are completed.
PM Lee said that Iswaran had no access to official resources and government buildings during his leave of absence.
Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat is the Acting Minister for Transport.
Top image via Andrew Koay/Mothership