Ex-transport minister S. Iswaran completes home detention scheme, no longer under prison custody
SINGAPORE - Former transport minister S. Iswaran has completed his jail term and is no longer under prison custody.
The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) said on June 6 that he has completed his emplacement on the Home Detention Scheme.
On Oct 3, 2024, he was handed a 12-month jail term in a case that saw, for the first time, a former Cabinet minister being sentenced.
He had spent four months in jail since he began his sentence on Oct 7, 2024.
He was placed on the Home Detention Scheme on Feb 7, 2025.
SPS had previously said that Mr Iswaran was assessed to be suitable for the scheme as he was of low risk of reoffending, did not commit any institutional offence in prison and had strong family support.
Inmates who display good conduct in prison are eligible for remission after serving two-thirds of their sentence, or after serving 14 days of their sentence, whichever ends later.
In Mr Iswaran's case, this would be eight months of his 12-month term.
SPS said prisoners are assessed for their suitability for the scheme by taking into consideration various factors, such as their conduct and their progress and response to rehabilitation, during incarceration.
Under the Home Detention Scheme, Mr Iswaran served his remaining sentence at his residence under specified conditions. These included curfew monitoring using an electronic monitoring tag, being occupied in work, study or training, and reporting to SPS for counselling.
Mr Iswaran's one-year jail term was almost double the six to seven months' jail the prosecution had sought. His lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, had asked for not more than eight weeks' jail.
Mr Iswaran pleaded guilty to five charges on Sept 24, 2024, on what was to be the first day of a highly anticipated trial in which he aimed to clear his name.
The charges he admitted to comprised four charges of obtaining valuable items as a public servant from Ong Beng Seng, chairman of Formula One race promoter Singapore GP, and Mr David Lum Kok Seng, managing director of construction company Lum Chang Holdings.
The fifth charge was for obstructing the course of justice by making payment of $5,700 for a business class flight he had taken from Doha to Singapore in 2022 at Ong's expense. Mr Iswaran made the payment to throw off the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, which found his name in a flight manifest it had seized while investigating Ong's associates.
In sentencing Mr Iswaran, Justice Vincent Hoong said the prosecution and defence had asked for 'manifestly inadequate' jail terms.
The judge said general deterrence, aimed at setting an example for others who commit offences, was the primary consideration in his sentencing decision.
He added that Mr Iswaran, as a minister and chairman of the Formula One steering committee, wielded influence in matters of great public interest, even if there was no evidence the gifts had influenced decisions over Formula One or its contracts.
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