Indian-origin minister in Singapore questioned by CPIB: Media reports

Singapore, July 19

Transport Minister S Iswaran was questioned for around 10 hours by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in connection to an investigation into a case of corruption, according to local media reports.

He arrived at the CPIB building at Lengkok Bahru in Redhill estate at about 10.50 am on Tuesday.

Dressed in a blue shirt and dark trousers, Iswaran, 61, entered the compound alone.

The minister, who has taken a leave of absence from his official duties, left at 8.48 pm in an SUV, according to a report by TODAY newspaper.

The CPIB said last Friday that Iswaran and Hotel Property Limited Managing Director Ong Beng Seng were arrested on July 11 and assisting with investigations. The agency has not given details on the nature of the probe.

Both were released on bail, and as part of their bail conditions, their passports were impounded.

Ong, 77, returned to Singapore from Bali on a private plane on Monday afternoon, after being allowed by the CPIB to travel overseas. He had left for the Indonesian resort island last Friday after posting bail of SGD100,000.

Iswaran and Ong are known to be key figures in making Singapore’s pitch to become a part of the Formula One circuit.

Ong is chairman of the Singapore Grand Prix, which organises the F1 night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit annually.

In the mid-2000s, Iswaran – a junior trade minister at the time – and Ong convinced then Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone to make Singapore the venue for the sport’s first night race, starting in 2008.

Iswaran reportedly knew Ong when he was a bureaucrat and top executive at Temasek, according a report by The Straits Times.