Eight public officers referred to the police over homes bought near future MRT stations. A referral is not a finding of guilt, Chan Chun Sing says
The Public Service Division reviewed 191 officers in rail-planning agencies who bought property between 2007 and 2014 near sites later announced as stations. The review began after a US working paper claimed evidence of informed trading.
Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing told Parliament on Tuesday that eight public officers have been referred to the police over property purchases near MRT stations that had not yet been announced. The Business Times, the Straits Times, the South China Morning Post, The Star and Malay Mail all reported the statement. The eight were picked out of a review by the Public Service Division of 191 officers who worked in agencies involved in rail planning and who bought property between 2007 and 2014 near locations that were later announced as stations.
Mr Chan was careful about what the referral means. It is not a finding of guilt, he said: the police will look at the facts independently, and due process will be followed. According to the reports, cases were flagged either because of the particular circumstances of a purchase, or because there was not enough information to rule them out. The review weighed each officer's role at the time, whether the officer had access to relevant information that was not public, and the timing of the purchase. The period was extended to 2014 as a precaution, because new station locations kept being announced after 2011.
The review was set off by a working paper from the US National Bureau of Economic Research, which claimed to find clear evidence of informed trading by civil servants near future stations. Working papers of this kind are not peer-reviewed. The government had said before Tuesday's sitting that any wrongdoing would be referred to the authorities. Mr Chan's statement restated the principle at stake: public officers must never use information gained in their official duties to advance their private interests.
The case touches a sensitive nerve. MRT announcements move property prices, and land-use planning in Singapore depends on the public trusting that those who draw the lines do not profit from them. Reports differ slightly on whether the review is closed: one says further checks are continuing, another that the government has not ruled out a wider review. What happens next is in the hands of the police. Until they report, the eight officers remain unnamed and no one has been charged. DailyDrop will report charges, if any, and whether the review is extended beyond 2014.
Two questions will follow the case. The first is scope. The review covered officers in rail-planning agencies, but station plans pass through many hands, from land agencies to contractors, and MPs may ask whether anyone outside the public service was checked. The second is method. The NBER paper is a statistical claim about patterns across many purchases; the police inquiry will test individual cases. A gap between the two is possible either way, and the government will need to explain its findings plainly if it wants the matter closed.