SINGAPORE, Jan. 18 (CNA) – Former Transport Minister S Iswaran was charged in court on Thursday (Jan 18) with multiple offences including corruption and obtaining valuables as a public servant, months after a probe into him was made public.

He pleaded not guilty to 27 charges in all, relating to his interactions with property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and is chairman of race promoter Singapore GP.

Iswaran, who resigned from his positions in government on Tuesday, is accused of corruptly receiving more than S$166,000 (US$123,570) worth of flights, hotel stays and tickets to events in exchange for advancing the billionaire's business interests.

He is separately accused of obtaining about S$218,000 worth of valuable items in his capacity as a minister who also dealt with Mr Ong and his company in his role as chairman of the F1 Steering Committee.

The 61-year-old appeared at the court building at about 8.10am flanked by lawyers from Davinder Singh Chambers - led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.

He made no comment to the crowd of reporters that was waiting for him.

Photo from CNA