The amended charges fall under Section 165 of the Penal Code which Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has previously said is part of a “comprehensive set of legislative levers for corruption control”.
New: You can now listen to articles.In a statement after court proceedings had ended for the day, the Attorney General’s Chambers said that after considering all the facts and evidence, it agreed to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act charges originally laid against Iswaran.
Iswaran pleaded guilty to two other charges also under this Section; as well as one charge of obstruction of justice. He also admitted to another 30 charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which will be taken into consideration for sentencing.under Section 6 read with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act , in addition to 24 charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code and one of obstructing the course of justice.
He also allegedly received one night's stay in the Four Seasons Doha, worth S$4,737.63, and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore worth S$5,700, in December 2022. Both were through Mr Ong's company, Singapore GP. The amended charges also state that Iswaran knew that Mr Ong, through Singapore GP, was concerned with the performance of the facilitation agreement between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board for the Singapore F1 Grand Prix 2022 to 2028, and this was connected with Iswaran's official functions as minister and chairman of the F1 Steering Committee.
“It may well have been that there were certain changes to the state of the evidence or the witnesses, or that the latest re-evaluation by the prosecution of the resources to be expended had now fallen in favour of revising the plead guilty offer,” said Mr Wong.Iswaran corruption charges amended as ex-minister, Ong Beng Seng would have 'interest in denying' corruption: AGC
This refers to an agreement between the prosecution and the defence that if the accused person pleads guilty instead of claiming trial, “some compromise or middle ground” can be struck, said Mr Wong. In agreeing to plead guilty, Iswaran also made a voluntary disgorgement of S$380,305.95 to the state a day before the trial. This refers to giving up illegally obtained gains and differs from restitution.
If the prosecution comes up with a plea offer to proceed on reduced charges, the sentencing outcome is likely to improve, he added.
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