Singapore ex-minister sentenced to 12 months in prison in rare graft trial

A Singaporean former minister was sentenced Thursday to 12 months in prison for obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gifts, local media reported, in the city-state's first political graft trial for nearly half a century.

Ex-transport minister S. Iswaran, known for helping bring Formula One to the financial hub, was earlier this year hit with 35 charges mostly related to graft in a nation often cited as one of the world's least corrupt.

But prosecutors moved forward with five lesser charges only, including some related to a billionaire property tycoon.

After Iswaran was convicted last week of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gifts, prosecutors had sought a six-to-seven-month sentence, The Straits Times reported.

The defence team for the former minister had argued for a maximum sentence of eight weeks.

Iswaran's trial has been deemed by observers to be one of the most politically significant in the city-state's history.

It also risks damaging the reputation of the ruling People's Action Party before general elections expected to be held by November next year.

Iswaran quit in January after being formally notified of the charges, which include accepting gifts worth more than $300,000.

In a resignation letter at the time, he said he would clear his name in court.

Iswaran has paid back around $295,000 in financial gain to the government and gifts including a Brompton bicycle were also seized from him, the attorney general's office said.

The charges include obstruction of justice relating to an attempt to block Singaporean authorities from investigating a business class flight at the expense of Malaysian hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng, one of Singapore's richest residents.

The other four charges relate to his receipt of gifts from Ong, the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, and a top director at a construction company, including bottles of whiskey and golf clubs.

Neither businessman has faced punishment.

Most of the charges against Iswaran have been levelled with a rarely used criminal law under which it is an offence for public servants to accept objects of value from figures they officially work with.

Singapore's former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the time of Iswaran's resignation that he had pledged to return money received as part of his salary and allowances since his arrest.

Cabinet ministers are paid salaries comparable to the top earners in the private sector to deter corruption.