The number of public sector corruption incidents in 2022 “remained low”, making up 14 percent of all cases probed, said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau on Friday (Apr 28).
There were 12 public sector cases registered for investigation last year, keeping with the pattern since 2018.
CPIB said in its annual statistics release that most cases in 2022 originated in the private sector instead, at 86 percent.
Of the 71 private sector cases in total, 10 involved individuals trying and failing to bribe public servants from the police, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the Land Transport Authority, and the National Environment Agency, CPIB noted.
Last year, out of 152 people prosecuted in court for offences investigated by the anti-graft agency, 97 percent or 148 were from the private sector. The remainder were public sector employees.
In its release, CPIB reiterated – as it has in the preceding two years – that the corruption situation in Singapore was “firmly under control”.
There was a 6 percent drop in the number of corruption-related reports received by CPIB in 2022, at 234 compared with 249 in 2021.
Of these, 83 were registered as new cases for investigation last year.
A report is registered for investigation if the information received is of sufficient quality to be pursuable, said the graft buster.
“Investigative enquiries and intelligence probes by CPIB also uncovered further information that enabled a higher percentage of reports to be registered for investigation,” CPIB added.
The agency, which sits under the Prime Minister’s Office, also pointed out that its conviction rate for cases in 2022 was 99 percent.
This was the standard in 2018 and 2019 before dipping slightly to 97 percent in 2020 and 98 percent the next year.
“The consistently high conviction rate for CPIB cases is a testament to the quality of the Bureau’s investigation to be able to stand up to scrutiny in court, as well as the close working relationship between CPIB and the Attorney-General’s Chambers in bringing corrupt offenders to task,” said CPIB.
