8 public officers referred to police over property purchases linked to future MRT stations

The Public Service Division (PSD) has referred eight cases involving property purchases made by civil servants to the police, said Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday (Oct 6).

"The police will look into the facts independently, and due process will be followed," said Chan, who is also Minister-in-charge of the Public Service and Minister for Defence.

He was responding to parliamentary questions filed by members of parliament, after a recent study suggested that some civil servants had purchased properties close to future MRT stations, before the locations were publicly announced.

A total of nine Members of Parliament filed questions on the working paper released by a United States-based research organisation, which found a statistical association between civil servants and the homes they purchased near planned MRT stations prior to public announcements regarding the stations.

Most of the questions focused on the safeguards in place and whether they are effective in preventing the misuse of non-public information.

In his reply, Chan said the PSD had identified officers in agencies involved in rail planning who made property purchases between 2007 and 2014 near locations that were subsequently announced as MRT stations.

He added that PSD had extended its review beyond 2011 and through 2014 as a matter of prudence, as many new MRT station locations were announced in the years after 2011.

"For each transaction, we examined the available records. This included the officer's role at that time, whether the officer had access to relevant non-public information, the timing and circumstances of the transaction, and other relevant information available to us," the coordinating minister said.

8 cases referred to the police

The Government reviewed property transactions made by 191 officers, with further checks still ongoing, Chan revealed.

He added that eight officers have had their cases referred to the police as further examination is warranted.

"This could be due to the specific circumstances surrounding the purchase, or that we currently do not have adequate information to exclude the cases from further review," the coordinating minister explained.

However, he also pointed out that a referral does not mean that wrongdoing has been established.

"The police will look into the facts independently, and due process will be followed," Chan added.

He also cautioned against assuming that officers with access to non-public information had misused that information.

But, where specific information gives reasonable grounds for concerns, the cases will be looked into, Chan assured the House.

AsiaOne has reached out to the police for more information.

公共服务统筹部长陈振声周二（10月6日）表示，公共服务署已将八起公务员购买房产的案件移交警方调查。

“警方将独立调查事实，并遵循正当程序，”陈先生说，他同时也是公共服务部长和国防部长。

他是在回应国会议员提出的质询时做出上述表态的。此前一项研究表明，一些公务员在未来的地铁站位置公开宣布之前，就已经购买了靠近这些站点的房产。

共有九名国会议员就一家美国研究机构发布的工作文件提出了质询。该文件发现，在有关地铁站的公开公告发布之前，公务员与其在规划中的地铁站附近购买的房屋之间存在统计关联。

大多数问题都集中在现有的保障措施以及这些措施是否能有效防止滥用非公开信息。

陈先生在答复中表示，公共服务署已查明参与铁路规划的机构中的一些官员，他们在 2007 年至 2014 年间购买了靠近后来被宣布为地铁站的地点的房产。

他还补充说，由于 2011 年之后宣布了许多新的地铁站选址，公共服务署出于谨慎考虑，将审查期限延长至 2011 年之后，直至 2014 年。

协调部长表示：“对于每一笔交易，我们都审查了现有的记录。这包括该官员当时的角色、该官员是否能够获取相关的非公开信息、交易的时间和情况，以及我们掌握的其他相关信息。”

8起案件已移交警方

陈透露，政府已审查了191名官员的房产交易，目前仍在进行进一步的核查。

他还补充说，有八名警官的案件已移交警方，因为有必要进行进一步调查。

协调部长解释说：“这可能是由于购买的具体情况所致，或者我们目前没有足够的信息将这些案件排除在进一步审查之外。”

然而，他也指出，移交调查并不意味着已经确定存在不当行为。

陈补充说：“警方将独立调查事实，并遵循正当程序。”

他还告诫人们不要假定那些能够接触到非公开信息的官员滥用了这些信息。

但陈向国会保证，如果具体信息提供了合理的担忧理由，相关案件将会得到调查。

AsiaOne已联系警方以获取更多信息。