SINGAPORE – Transport Minister S. Iswaran had his monthly pay reduced to $8,500 until further notice when he was relieved of his ministerial duties, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament on Wednesday.

In delivering his ministerial statement on the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigation involving Mr Iswaran, PM Lee said he had used the current civil service practice as a reference point since such incidents involving ministers were rare, and that there was no rule or precedent on how to effect an interdiction on a political office-holder.

“The specific details in Minister Iswaran’s case follow generally how the civil service would deal with a senior officer in a similar situation.

“But this was my decision as PM, because the political contexts for a minister and a civil servant being investigated and interdicted are different,” he said.

According to the Public Service Division (PSD), as at 2012, when ministerial salaries were last adjusted, the monthly salary of a minister at benchmark level is $55,000, which works out to an annual salary of $1,100,000. The fixed salary, including the 13th month, is $715,000. The rest is variable.

PM Lee told the House that the CPIB came across information concerning Mr Iswaran that merited investigation and alerted him on May 29. He said the bureau pursued the lead further of its own volition.

“Nobody tipped them off. There had been no public scandal. CPIB came across something that needed investigating and proceeded to do their job,” PM Lee said.

Reiterating the events that took place, PM Lee said the CPIB director briefed him on the findings on July 5, saying that the bureau needed to interview Mr Iswaran to take the investigation further and seeking his concurrence to open a formal investigation, which he gave on July 6.

It was on July 11 that Mr Iswaran was taken in by the CPIB and subsequently released on bail.

“I instructed him to take leave of absence until the investigations were completed,” PM Lee said.

Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng was also arrested on July 11 as part of the corruption probe. Mr Ong is the man who brought Formula One to Singapore.

PM Lee pointed out that CPIB investigations are still ongoing, and he was, therefore, unable to provide more details on the case, “so as not to prejudice the investigations in any way”.

He asked Members of the House and the public to refrain from speculation and conjecture.

“We must allow CPIB to do its work, to investigate the matter fully, thoroughly and independently. When the investigation is completed, CPIB will submit its findings to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which will decide what to do with them.

“Whichever way the facts come out, the case will be taken to its logical conclusion.

“That has always been our way,” he added. 

Asked during the question-and-answer session why Mr Iswaran’s monthly salary had been cut to $8,500, PM Lee said the practice is such that when a civil servant has been interdicted, he is put on half pay – “subject to a ceiling and a floor”.

If the civil servant under investigations is innocent, then he is entitled to back pay. If, however, he is found guilty, his “pay will stop completely and other consequences will follow”.

“I think that is a reasonable model to follow, and that was the basis on which I decided that Mr Iswaran would be interdicted and that he will be paid $8,500 per month instead of his normal salary,” PM Lee added.

Addressing a question by Workers’ Party MP Dennis Tan on whether the pay cut included Mr Iswaran’s MP allowance, PM Lee said the allowance is different from the pay and that it is not at the discretion of the prime minister to cut it.

According to the PSD, the annual MP allowance is $192,500.

“An MP’s allowance will be withheld once the MP is suspended from the service of Parliament... A motion would have to be moved in Parliament to suspend the Member from the service of Parliament. His or her allowance would be withheld thereafter,” he said.