Singapore refers eight public officers to police over property buys

Eight Singaporean public officers have been referred to the police following a government review of property transactions made near future Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station locations. Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing informed Parliament on Tuesday that the Public Service Division (PSD) reviewed the transactions of 191 officers.

The review was prompted by a working paper from the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which identified a statistical association between civil servants in rail-planning agencies and property purchases near planned MRT stations prior to public announcements. While the NBER paper focused on the period between 2007 and 2011, the PSD extended its investigation through 2014 as a precautionary measure.

Minister Chan noted that the eight referrals were made because specific circumstances warranted further examination or because there was insufficient information to exclude the cases from review. He emphasized that a referral does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing and that the police will conduct an independent investigation to follow due process.