Singapore, a nation consistently ranked as among the least corrupt in the world, is gearing up for a high-profile corruption trial.
Mr Iswaran, a former transport minister best known for his role in helping to bring the Formula One night race to Singapore, is the first political officeholder in almost four decades to face a corruption investigation.
The sixty-two-year-old goes on trial today , September twenty-fourth, on thirty-five charges of obtaining valuables as a public servant, corruption and obstructing the course of justice.
Civil servants and political officeholders are prohibited from accepting gifts valued above fifty Singapore dollars in the course of their duties.
The father of three is accused of accepting more than four hundred thousand Singapore dollars in gifts from two businessmen: Malaysian billionaire Ong Beng Seng, who was also instrumental in securing the Formula One race, and Lum Kok Seng, a man with strong ties to grassroots organizations in Mr Iswaran’s former electoral ward.
The gifts include tickets to West End musicals, flights, bottles of whisky, English Premier League match tickets and even a Brompton bicycle.
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