Singapore refers eight civil servants to police over property purchases

Singapore has referred eight civil servants to the police following an inquiry into the suspected use of nonpublic information to buy properties near planned railway stations.

Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing announced the referrals on Tuesday after a working paper by a United States-based think tank found that civil servants were disproportionately likely to buy homes near future Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations.

In remarks to Parliament, Chan said the government had identified eight individuals who warranted further examination following a review of property transactions by 191 civil servants.

“Let me emphasise that a referral does not mean that wrongdoing has been established,” Chan said.

“The police will look into the facts independently and due process will be followed.”

Chan said the government took the misuse of government information seriously and would act “firmly” in any cases where wrongdoing was established.

“The fundamental principle is clear,” he said.

“Public officers must never use information obtained through their official duties to advance their own private interests or those of others.”

The announcement comes after the National Bureau of Economic Research last month published research suggesting that Singaporean civil servants were 60 percent more likely to buy homes in areas where planned MRT stations had yet to be announced.

The paper, written by economists at Stanford University, Columbia University and the University of Hong Kong, found that purchases were concentrated among mid-level officials linked to public transport planning and generated “meaningful” financial gains for those involved.

Singapore has long prided itself on being a leader in clean governance, proclaiming zero tolerance for corruption.

The city-state’s public sector was ranked third-cleanest in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index last year, trailing Denmark and Finland.

In 2024, a Singaporean court sentenced S Iswaran, a former transport minister, to 12 months in prison for obstructing justice and accepting gifts worth more than $300,000 while in office.

Iswaran’s conviction marked the first prosecution of a cabinet official in Singapore since 1975, when then-Environmental Minister Wee Toon Boon was found guilty of receiving kickbacks from a local businessman.

In 1986, Teh Cheang Wan, a minister for national development, was under investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. He died before charges were brought against him.